Sports
Parkway South Can't Stop Oakville's Streak
Mike Sulya of Oakville had two early touchdown receptions and Patrick Partee has a long kickoff return in a victory over Parkway South on Friday.
Mehlville senior Mike Sulya spent three weeks on crutches after suffering a bone bruise in the .
Sulya got clearance from the doctors to play Monday and it took him less than a quarter to score a pair of touchdowns that sparked a 30-10 Panther victory over Parkway South in the final non-district game of the season.
"I really was worried that I wasn't going to get to play again this season," said Sulya, who is also an . "That was my worst fear during my senior year. But I felt brand new tonight and felt 100 percent."
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The Patriot defenders would agree as Sulya took a pair of short passes from Jeff White and converted them into long touchdowns.
The first went for 68 yards with 8:50 to go in the first quarter and the second was a 53-yarder with 3:21 to play in the first quarter.
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"They were both hitches and I caught the ball and just ran," Sulya said. "I just kept my legs going."
Those plays set the tone for a dominating performance by the Panthers, who led 17-3 at halftime.
They put the game away in the opening two minutes of the third quarter. Patrick Partee took the kickoff to open the second half and raced 89 yards for a touchdown.
Parkway South started inside its 10 yard line after bobbling the ensuing kickoff. The Patriots then lost a fumble and Dwaine Lewis scored on a 1-yard run three plays later.
The Patriots scored the first touchdown against the Panthers in over 10 quarters and they did so with the big play as Dave Olderman caught an 84-yard touchdown pass from Eric Laurent for the third touchdown in less than three minutes to open the second half. But that proved to be the game's final scoring play.
Parkway South had another touchdown called back by penalty and dropped a couple of other passes which could have led to more big plays.
"Big plays hurt us and we didn't capitalize when we had the chance for big plays on our own," Parkway South coach Travis Blevins said. "We did not come ready to play tonight and Mehlville did. We have got to get a lot better quick with Lafayette, which is undefeated in the conference, coming up next week."
The loss dropped the Patriots to 4-3. Mehlville won for the third week in a row and improved to 4-3.
"We got some big plays tonight and played really well," Mehlville coach Eric Meyer said. "I think we wanted it a little more."
The Panthers have a rugged district with games against St. Louis University High, Lindbergh and De Smet. The Panthers host SLUH in the district opener next Friday night.