Parkway North Falls To Summit

What a difference one week makes.

Our maybe it was a tough week of practice in scorching temperatures.

Either way, Rockwood Summit showed a vast improvement from a blowout loss in Week 1 to earn a 38-20 home-opening victory Friday against visiting in a Suburban South Conference game.

“Certainly there were a few times the kids couldn’t wait to play again because it was a rough week of practice,” Summit coach Mike Bellers said. “And with the heat, our kids really battled through. I think we handled the heat better than they did; we were in it every day this weekend except (Thursday). Our kids paid the price, but they got the reward they deserved.”

The heat, which pushed past 100 degrees for the third straight day Friday, pushed kickoff back an hour, and might have sparked the Falcon’s offense.

Led by senior quarterback Tyler Karst in his second varsity start, Summit (1-1) had 433 yards on offense and 25 first downs, compared to North’s 11 first downs.

Karst was 17-for-22 passing for 238 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. Junior receiver Luke Hartman led the Falcons with six receptions and 116 yards.

“They packed the box and gave me the throws,” Karst said. “My line protected great tonight, it was perfect, and my receivers got open. All I had to do was give it to them.”

Senior receiver Joe Schneck had nine catches for 112 yards and caught both of Karst’s TD throws.

“We wanted to exploit our passing game because we didn’t know how big their line would be this year,” said Schenck. “The last couple years, they’ve been pretty big. So we had about plays in mind for runs and the rest were passes. But once we got out here and gave it to them, we started going with the run more.”

Schenck’s two TDs helped build a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. The second TD catch required an alert grab in the endzone while falling out of bounds.

“Joey’s an incredible athlete,” Bellers said. “I hope he gets the accolades he deserves. I think he’s one of the best receivers in St. Louis. We try not to overuse him, but he’s playing on both sides of the ball and just about every special teams. He’s a nice piece to the puzzle.”

Running back Ian McIntosh benefited from the successful air attack. After struggling to get 20 yards last week, the junior ran for two scores and 101 yards on 17 carries against North (1-1).

The Vikings, on the other hand, struggled to move the ball after earning good field position off special teams throughout the game. North started five of its first seven possessions beyond the 30-yard line but only managed one touchdown in those quarters.

“We stunk,” North coach Bob Bunton said. “We had it handed to us in every single phase. Mentally, we were not in the ball game and physical we got whooped. There wasn’t one good thing we did tonight. If they hadn’t put their second string in, I don’t think we would have scored another touchdown.”

North’s senior running back/linebacker Donavin Newsom had one score and 51 yards on 13 carries. However, the Missouri recruit left in the second half with knee pain, one week after leaving a 38-35 victory over SLU High with the same injury.

The Vikings stay on the road next week, taking on University City.