Photo Credit: Roman Puno/PrepsKC 
Turnovers came in bunches for Park Hill South in their 50-40 upset win over No. 9 Staley in the Class 6 district quarterfinals on Friday night at Staley High School.
The game turned in the second quarter with the Panthers forcing three turnovers.
It started with a Falcon pass that was batted at the line of scrimmage. Panther linebacker D'Ante Wells caught that batted ball and took it to the house to tie the game (14-14) at 8:55 of the second.
On the next drive, the Panthers recovered a fumble, and took over at midfield.
Just 17 seconds later, Briggs Bartosh found Darrien Jones in the corner of the end zone to put South on top 21-14.
With 49 seconds left in the half, sophomore linebacker Tommy Lisenby came up with another interception and took it to the Staley 5.
Bartosh ran it in on the next play and the Panthers led 28-14 at halftime.
“Our defense played awesome, they came out with a spark," Park Hill South head coach Benny Palmer said. "They were opportunistic and made plays. They work on it all week long and they finally got it to pay off. It was awesome."
South did not let up after the break.
On the first play of the second half, Bartosh threw an 80-yard bomb to Rogdryk Guillory and the lead was 20, just 12 seconds into the third.
The Panthers went for two, after a penalty on Staley, and led 36-14.
The Falcons got a much-needed touchdown from KV Stone on their next drive.
But South wasn’t done airing it out just yet.
Bartosh connected on a 53-yard to Mike Lane that put the Panthers up 43-21.
"You start up front, our guys were money up front," Palmer said. "Briggs (Bartosh) did a great job, and the receivers got loose and made plays. This is a talented group all over the place. I love the fact that they're playing their best football right now."
With 11:57 left to play, Stone scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, making it a 16-point game.
But on the next Panther drive, Lane scored on a reverse from 19 yards out to make it 50-27 South with 7:44 left.
A touchdown pass to John Randle IV at 6:18 of the fourth, and another rushing TD with 3:55 left made it a two-possession game (50-40), but the Falcons could get no closer than that, ending their season at 7-3.
"Credit to these kids and coaches, they did a great job," Palmer said. "We had a great game plan., We're exciting when everything is flowing, and right now we're flowing pretty good."
Staley needed less than one minute to take its first lead of the game.
A 71-yard touchdown pass from Cole Robertson to Abel Swope on the Falcons second play of the game put them on top 7-0 at 11:09 of the first.
The Panthers showed they were up for a four-quarter fight, answering with a touchdown of their own on the very next drive.
Bratosh's 33-yard pass to Jacob Willoughby tied the game with 7:24 to play in the first.
Staley’s next score came on a 1-yard by KV Stone, and they led by as much after one.
South (5-5) will play district rival Park Hill next week. The Panthers lost to the Trojans 42-35 on Sept. 30.
