Joomla Login LightBox powered by WowJoomla.com

Park Hill South’s Austin Baska didn’t hesitate.

His motivation was crystal clear.

“First of all, nobody likes Kansas in anything,” Baska said. “You can talk to anybody from Missouri about that. You are trying to represent your state and you could tell that everybody wanted this.”

Baska, who played most of the night on the offensive line, and his Northland neighbors were able to helpMissouri break a two-game losing skid against the Kansas all-stars, holding on for a 10-7 win Thursday, June 18, at Blue Springs South High.

A common goal created a unique bond for the Missouri team, which surprised Baska.

“I’ve never been around a team that has come together as quickly as this did,” Baska said. “We were together for two weeks and this was the closest team I’ve ever been on, no question about it.”

But still, it almost wasn’t enough. Kansas had the ball near midfield in the closing minutes with a chance to win the game. Winnetonka’s Andy Helmick was on the field as a defensive back when Kansas made its last gasp.

“That was fun,’ Helmick said. “We had a lot of energy out there. We knew we were going to stop them.

“It was a great atmosphere. I saw the clock wind down and I knew they weren’t going to get another play off, so we went a little crazy.”

Other Northland players were also able to play in the win. Oak Park running back Nick Werst had four carries for 11 yards. St. Pius X’s Jon Danaher, who starred as the Warriors’ quarterback during his high school career, joined Helmick in Missouri’s defensive backfield.

Park Hill’s Vincent Waller played on the offensive line. Fellow Trojan Richard Cowger was injured and unable to play.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed