​Eagles’ Palmer has impressive showing at jamboree

by Michael Smith


The Grain Valley football team is coming off a season in which it had arguably the best offensive player in the history of its program.

Running back Ty Williams, a Simone Award finalist, rushed for 2,485 yards and 33 touchdowns. He also had 385 yards through the air and five more scores in 2023. He’s now a graduate and is playing for Washburn University’s football team.

That’s a lot of production Grain Valley will have to try to replace. It may be near impossible, but after Friday’s preseason jamboree, the Eagles appear to have someone who could provide some good production at the position.

Senior Robert Palmer, a transfer from North Scott High School in Iowa, had an impressive showing at a jamboree that featured defending Class 6 state champion Liberty North, Lee’s Summit and Class 3 semifinalist St. Pius X at Moody Murray Memorial Field.

He carried the ball six times for 30 yards and caught one pass for six yards, scoring one of the Eagles’ two touchdowns of the day.

At the jamboree each team got to run 11 plays on offense and 11 on defense against each team while starting drives from the opponent’s 35-yard line. If a team failed to get a first down, it would start over at the 35.

His big run came against Lee’s Summit as he broke a tackle on a run between the tackles and used his speed to get to the second level of the Tigers’ defense for a 20-yard gain. He ended up scoring on a 1-yard run later in the drive.

He’s a physical running back who looks good on runs between the tackles but also showed he can be a good pass catcher out of the backfield.

“He’s a tough runner,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “He can bring the physicality when he needs to. He’s a great kid and has worked from Day 1 since he’s been here.”

Junior quarterback Chase Neer has liked what he’s seen from Palmer so far.

“When he gets the ball, he’s at least getting four yards,” Neer said. “He’s not taking no for an answer. He’s powerful, strong, fast, he does it all. I am excited to see how he can help our offense this year.

“When the defense crashes in the middle to try and stop Robert, that opens up opportunities for me to get to the outside and run or even pass it on a run-pass option.”

He could be the team’s primary running back or could split carries with fellow senior DJ Harris. So far, the transition has been seamless after moving to Grain Valley.

“At my old school, we ran similar things as Grain Valley did,” Palmer said. “Coming into Grain Valley, I knew what I needed to get done and knew my role.”

Neer also had a solid day at quarterback as he completed 3 of 4 passes for 18 yards and four times for 29 yards. He had a 12-yard touchdown run against North on a passing play. He couldn’t find an open receiver so he took off running to the right side and got the edge for the score.

“I didn’t think he was going to run it, but he did,” Palmer said of Neer’s TD run. “I was impressed. I am excited to work with him this season.”

Grain Valley did have its fair share of struggles, however. The Eagles had a handful of fumbles throughout, including two which were recovered by the opposing defense. They also struggled to defend the passing game on defense as seven of the nine touchdowns surrendered by the Eagles defense came through the air.

“Across the board we have some things to work on,” Allie said. “We had too many balls on the ground and near turnovers. You can’t beat yourself. We got another week to improve on that.

“We were rotating some kids in and out (on defense). We didn’t play a few kids tonight because we had some bumps and bruises. But we will have some kids who will hopefully start next Friday.”

​Grain Valley will have its season opener next Friday at 7 p.m. at Raytown High School.
 
 
 Correction: An earlier version incorrectly listed Ty Williams as attending Truman State University. This was corrected to read Washburn University. 8/25/2024 9:50am.
 
 

Grain Valley senior Robert Palmer, a transfer from North Scott High School in Iowa, had 30 yards on six carries and a touchdown and had one catch for six yards in the football team's preseason jamboree Friday at Moody Murray Memorial Field. Photo credit: Michael Smith