Platte County embracing challenges in trying to extend state’s longest win streak

The Platte County head football coaching position doesn’t come open often, and the anomalous stability for nearly half a decade creates inescapable expectations.

One of the state’s most historically successful programs thrives on continuity, and Derek Yost understands the short-term challenges with a focus on sustenance. The Pirates go into this season with the longest active winning streak in Missouri (28), combing off of back-to-back undefeated Class 5 state championships.

In fact, Platte County’s last loss came 1,022 days prior to Friday’s season-opener at Winnetonka, but the Pirates also must move forward without a transcendent senior class that produced five Division I players and accounted for nearly all of the offensive production.

“Our goals don’t change. You don’t take this job at Platte County without some expectations,” said Yost, 34, most recently served as a defensive assistant coach in charge of the secondary. “Really for us, it will always be win the conference, win the district, win the state title. The message from Day 1 with these guys is you don’t have to be what the last class was. You go out and be the best version of you that you can be and buy into how we’re going to go out and win.”

The Platte County R-3 School Board unanimously voted to approve Yost as the next head coach in early March, making him just the 20th known person to hold that position in a program history and just the third since 1988. He takes over on the heels of lengthy successful tenures for Chip Sherman (1988-2007) and Bill Utz (2008-2025), who unexpectedly announced his intention to retire and take the head football coaching job at Lansing (Kansas).

Yost joined Utz’s staff in 2016 and has also spent time as defensive pass game coordinator and special teams coordinator. In addition to a new head coach, longtime assistant Blake Seifert takes over as offensive coordinator while David Diener joins the Pirates’ staff as defensive coordinator after the simultaneous retirements of Jeff Humburg and Eric Mitchell, respectively.

Diener most recently spent time as head coach at Class 2 Holden where he accumulated a record of 36-20, posting a winning season in all five years with the Eagles. That included a playoff berth in 2022.

Yost’s staff consists of 13 coaches with the majority having lengthy tenures at Platte County with multiple alums on the list, including Dakota Schmidt, Jon Watts and Taylor Smith.

“Honestly, the great part is I was allowed to go through and be involved in a lot of the administrative duties,” Yost said. “We never had an associate head coach title. That didn’t exist, but seeing those processes has been super helpful to have under my belt. Honestly, identity-wise, we have such a good foundation here. I had two great mentors in Mitchell and Utz, and I’ll throw Humburg in there, too. Those guys really shaped who I am as a coach, and I felt lucky to be able to learn and grow with them. This staff is incredible. I’ve got five former head coaches in the room with me. The collaboration has been great.

“It feels like we have the right guys in the right places.”

Platte County’s projected lineups feature plenty of new players after the graduation of a long list of college-bound players and all-state standouts. The Pirates must wait until Friday to see if this year’s postseason assignment includes Rockhurst, widely considered a top team in the state regardless of class.

Changes to the success multiplier for private schools promises to lead to plenty of shuffling, but Platte County likely returns to Class 5 District 8. However, Rockhurst (Class 6) and St. Pius X (Class 3) could move out, leaving possible pairings with Suburban Conference White Division rivals Grain Valley and Fort Osage as the big potential tests early in the postseason.

Platte County needed a last-second touchdown to defeat Rockhurst in last season’s Class 5 District 8 championship game and then staged a late comeback in a rainy road matchup with Grain Valley to survive a state quarterfinal matchup and defeat the Eagles for the second time in 2025.

A state semifinal at Kirkwood turned into a high-scoring rout, and Platte County survived an overtime thriller that included multiple injuries/illnesses for key players to beat Carthage in the Class 5 title game.

Many early-season polls have omitted Platte County due to the substantial turnover in coaches and players, but the program has just five losing seasons in the past 40 years — 1987 in Doug Hedrick‘s final season, 2008 and 2009 in Utz’s first two seasons and his 4-6 and 5-6 campaigns in 2013 and 2022.

“Our kids have done a great job of taking on a lunch-pail mentality with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, too.

“This group, after what we graduated, people don’t seem to think as highly of us yet. It’s our job to go out there and remind them who we are,” Yost said.

Below is a position-by-position breakdown for Platte County’s 2026 roster.

Quarterback

Platte County spent the offseason looking at junior Paxton Bennett and sophomore Kade Fowler as potential replacements for Rocco Marriott, a three-year starter who finished as one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in state history. He signed with UCF after completely rewriting school record books and putting his name near the top of Missouri’s all-time lists for passing yards and touchdowns.

However, neither saw meaningful snaps a year ago, while senior Brandon Reynolds shifts to defensive back for his final season.

Bennett went 2-for-7 passing for 2 yards as a sophomore while ending up with negative rushing yards due to sacks taken while playing in six games. Fowler dressed varsity for the postseason but never saw the field.

Both have an opportunity to contribute this season for a program also blessed with consistency at quarterback, but Fowler expects to have the first crack at the starting role. The past 12 years saw Platte County start just seven different quarterbacks — Justin Mitchell (2014-16), Tanner Clarkson (2017), Spencer Stewart (2018), Chris Ruhnke (2019-20), Jared Parsons (2021), Dylan Zimmerman (2022) and Rocco Marriott (2023-25).

“Every school in America goes through this,” Yost said. “Every two, three, four years — whatever you get before you have a new quarterback. You just go back to the basics. We’re focused on development and making sure our guys have all the information they need. We feel good about where our quarterback room is with guys who can step up and do great things.”

Marriott led so much offensive dominance that Platte County’s backups almost exclusively played under a running clock the past two seasons. A two-time Missouri Football Coaches Association all-state pick and two-time Class 5 offensive player of the year, he put up the two best statistical seasons for a quarterback in program history, Marriott finished his career 525 of 879 passing for 8,922 yards with 118 touchdowns. He unofficially became just the eighth 11-man player in Missouri history with at least 100 passing touchdowns and finished ranked fifth on that list, while just missing becoming the fifth to throw for 9,000 yards, leaving him at No. 6 all-time with numbers likely limited by the knee injury he suffered while leading the Pirates to a memorable 34-28 overtime victory against Carthage in the Class 5 Show-Me Bowl.

Marriott’s 11,006 career yards of total offense, which includes 6 from the cumulative gain on two pass completions to himself last season, unofficially ranks fifth for 11-man players and includes 2,078 yards rushing (ninth most in school history). He totaled 45 touchdowns on the ground with his 270 points tying him for sixth on the Pirates’ all-time list for scoring with Andy Warner (1999-2000).

Running Back

Platte County essentially turns over the entire backfield with the top two running backs from 2025 also graduated. The Pirates currently plan for juniors Caleb Hill and Brady McDaniel to serve as the top two options after both saw carries as sophomores. However, depth took a hit with junior Cassius Guillory moving out of state.

Hill ran for 156 yards on just 15 carries. He totaled 145 and scored his first career touchdown against Belton and added a short score two weeks later against Truman. McDaniel added 38 yards rushing on 12 carries. His career-best of 23 yards came against Belton, as well.

Beyond the top two, Platte County might turn to one of the wide receivers in the backfield, while senior Devin Smith also factors into the depth chart.

“We like Hill and McDaniel,” Yost said. “Those guys give us a great 1-2 combo, and both give us something different. Caleb’s just a big, physical back, and we haven’t got to see how that plays out. But we think he has a whole other level we’re excited to get to. Brady gives you a little more of that scat back-type — patience and then hits the hole.”

Adam Gisler, who signed with Division II Northwest Missouri State, became the starting running back as a sophomore after a season-ending shoulder injury to Dayton Doll in Week 1, and the pair almost evenly split time in the 2024 state championship season. Gisler earned third-team all-state honors as a junior and move to second team as a senior despite missing time in both years due to shoulder injuries.

Just the fifth player in Platte County history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career, Gisler totaled 3,296 yards on the ground and finished behind only Zach Sherman (1,150 carries for 7,727 yards from 1998-2001) and Mike McNair (658 carries for 3,516 yards from 2013-16). Gisler put up 1,206 yards on just 129 carries as a senior despite missing three full games and a career-high 22 total touchdowns, which included a state championship game record 98-yard rushing score in the title game against Carthage plus the game-winning touchdown reception in OT.

Zach Burch served as Gisler’s backup, while Marriott became more run-oriented as a senior. Burch rushed for 250 yards and two scores as a senior after putting up 145 as the No. 3 running back as a junior.

With 302 career points between 50 touchdowns and a two-point conversion, Gisler finishes third in school history for scoring. This included capping his career with eight total touchdowns in the state semifinal win over Kirkwood and the Show-Me Bowl win over Carthage.

Gisler, signed to Division II Northwest Missouri State, also caught 27 passes for 430 yards in his career, giving him 3,726 yards of total offense overall — ninth in Platte County history for that category.

Wide Receiver

Platte County heavily leaned on a dynamic group of three wide receivers for the majority of production from that position group the past three seasons, and Braiden Stevens (Minnesota) and Ty Christopher (Iowa Western CC) both went on to pursue college opportunities.

Stevens and Tres Baskerville were three-year starters and two-time MFCA all-state picks, while Christopher moved from safety as a sophomore to wide receiver the past two seasons.

Platte County must completely rebuild the group of targets for Bennett and Fowler with senior Jude Brown (two catches, 35 yards) and junior Will Jackson (one catch, 10 yards) the only players back with at least one reception last season. Brown, fellow senior Noah Omoike, junior Nolan Sipes and sophomore Owen Yates expect to have the first looks in the rotation with Jackson and sophomore Kyle Thrasher also in the mix.

Omoike made one catch for 30 yards as a sophomore but missed most last season with a torn ACL. Sipes started two games at safety last season and totaled 23 tackles but now makes the move to offense.

Nick Fetterman, a senior, recently broke his wrist and hopes to return at some point this season and provide depth at wide receiver.

“All of our receivers are developing way better than expected, doing a great job of putting themselves in position to make plays,” Yost said. “We have guys learning the position and taking on the challenge. We think we have a good mix.”

Plenty of targets have opened up after the turnover.

As a senior, Stevens turned in the best season for a receiver in Platte County history, setting single-season records for yards (1,200) and touchdowns (18) on 66 catches. He caught at least one touchdown pass from Marriott in 22 of the last 28 games with his 2025 total breaking a mark of 16 previously jointly held between Jim Myers (1968) and Devin Richardson (2017).

Stevens also finished as Platte County’s career leader in both receiving yards (2,539) and touchdowns (37). The yardage total broke Dylan Gilbert’s mark of 2,442 from 2016-18, while Gilbert and Aliek Reed (2012-14) previously held the touchdown mark at 27 each.

Baskerville finished second behind Stevens for the Pirates in both catches (47) and yards (816) last season while catching eight touchdown passes. While Stevens ranks third all-time for receptions in school history, Baskerville finishes second with 138 while his yardage mark of 2,318 ends up third. He caught at least 40 passes in each of the past three seasons, and his 1,043 yards as a junior is the sixth most in a single-season in school history.

Baskerville’s 25th receiving touchdown (fifth in program history) gave Platte County the lead in the second half against Carthage at a key moment with Marriott’s mobility limited due to a knee injury suffered in the first quarter.

Christopher (35 catches, 748 yards, 12 touchdowns) ended up the odd man out for all-state honors in Platte County’s balanced trio. His career totals in two seasons were 61 catches for 1,172 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Tight End

A resurgent position in the offense over the past three seasons, Platte County plans to keep one and two tight end sets as possibilities this season. The Pirates just no longer have Division I-bound Brooks Hall (UCF) and Jack Utz (Kansas) in the fold after both graduated.

Platte County plans to move junior Hank Marriott to offense after he contributed eight tackles on defense and special teams as a sophomore. Braxton Seifert, a freshman, also looks to make immediate contributions.

Hank Marriott made one catch last season against Ruskin with coaches setting up a special opportunity on offense to receive a pass from his older brother the play went for 28 yards.

“We had some kids grow into this role,” Yost said. “It’s about finding the right combinations and playing to Hank and Braxton’s strengths. Hank has been extremely physical at the line of scrimmage and is a good blocker, but both of those guys will offer something to this offense immediately.”

In incredibly even careers, Hall finished his career with 52 catches for 710 yards and 10 touchdowns compared to Jack Utz’s 50 catches for 810 yards and 11 touchdowns, which ties for 21st in program history for career receiving scores. Both were four-year contributors, and Utz made the MFCA all-state teams twice.

Offensive Line

At one point a potential group stacked with returners, Platte County must look to senior Cooper Koenigsfeld to lead a reshuffled unit that lost three seniors plus a transfer from last year’s postseason unit. Koenigsfeld moves from right tackle to left tackle in his second-year as a starter and brings by far the most previous experience.

Platte County must replace two-time all-state left tackle Quinn Lightle, who started the majority of his four-year career, plus left guard Michael Poncavage and center Lucas Dillingham to graduation. Poncavage made third-team all-state as a senior after starting most of the past two seasons. In addition, the Pirates lost sophomore right guard Jayden Horn, who now plays at Blue Springs after his father Scorpio Horn took a job on the Wildcats coaching staff.

“We’ve looked at different combinations this summer. We continue to rotate the guys trying to find the best five as a group and where they fit,” Yost said.

However, Platte County senior Reece Moppin started the first half of last season at right guard, and the Pirates have a group that also includes senior James Moiyallah, junior Miller Bigus and sophomore Daxton Leuschen under consideration for time on the interior of the offensive line. Bigus and Moiyallah have taken the majority of offseason practice reps at center.

Bigus moves sides of the ball after putting up nine tackles (two for loss) and a sack as a reserve defensive tackle last season.

Platte County junior Max Shuey starts at right tackle after seeing playing time on the left side after Lightle suffered a lower leg injury in the postseason that limited his snaps. The Pirates also have seniors Sayer Reik and Tiernan Nedved on the depth chart.

“Cooper’s been great. He’s a guy who has been there and done that, and Max kind of anchors the other side,” Yost said. “Between those two, we feel good about the group as a whole.”

Defensive Line

While the offense brings back just one full-time starter, Platte County’s defense boasts significantly more experience. The defensive line features seniors Brody Hawk and Kyler Parker as anchors up front and third-year contributors. However, the Pirates must also replace two highly productive starters plus three rotational pieces who played key roles in creating substantial depth a year ago.

“For the most part, this is a veteran group. They can do all the same things the previous group did,” Yost said. “Now, it’s hard to replace the production, but this group might be even more balanced with a good mix of youth and older guys.”

Hawk and junior Greyson Reik start at the defensive end spots for Platte County, while Parker and sophomore Phin McMain occupy the inside spots with Elijah Lewis, another sophomore, as the top backup inside at defensive tackle. Parker also has ability to kick outside.

Hawk saw significant time as a sophomore, mostly as a rush specialist and totaled 32 1/2 tackles (7 1/2 for loss), five sacks, one forced fumble and two recovered. He bolstered that production to 51 tackles (11 for loss) and three sacks as a junior.

Parker’s career totals currently sit at 37 tackles (11 for loss) and two sacks across two balanced seasons of production. Greyson Reik made five tackles (two for loss) and forced a fumble in limited time last year as a sophomore. Kyle McGee, another sophomore, adds depth as well to the unit up front.

Platte County did lose two starters and two of the most statistically productive defensive linemen in program history.

Cale Buntz, headed to Division I South Dakota State after starting almost all of the past three seasons, accumulated 54 tackles, including 11 1/2 for a loss, and a team-high 9 1/2 sacks as a senior to go with three pass breakups and one fumble forced and one recovered. He also had an interception as a junior and finished his career with over 100 total tackles and 15 sacks.

A rotational piece as a junior who didn’t start but still made the All-Suburban Conference White Division team by the end of the season, Cole Johnson made 66 total tackles with a staggering team-high 28 for loss in his senior year. He also had two sacks, an interception, forced fumble and a blocked punt that he picked up and returned for his second career touchdown in Week 1 against William Chrisman.

The majority of Johnson’s production came the past two seasons, but his career numbers include 119 tackles (42 for loss), four sacks, four fumbles recovered, two fumbles forced and two blocked kicks. He recovered a fumble in the end zone for his first career touchdown as a junior.

Buntz and Johnson were both first-team all-state picks last season. In addition, JoJo Wolo (15 tackles with three for loss and a sack) and Cooper Hammontree (19 tackles with two for loss) also graduated while Bigus moved to offense.

Linebacker

Platte County moved more to a more traditional 4-3 look in the latter half last season to solidify a defense that gave up more than 21 points just twice in the first 10 games — a 60-28 win over Washburn Rural (Kansas) and a 54-23 win over Grain Valley in the regular season when the Eagles returned a pair of kickoffs for for touchdowns. The Pirates have seven players back who started all or a significant portion of last season.

That includes senior linebackers Carlos Baskerville and Hank Fowler.

A second-year starter and third-year contributor, Carlos Baskerville earned third-team all-state honors after totaling 94 total tackles (10 for loss), 3 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble that he picked up and returned for a touchdown and an interception that he returned for another score in a breakout season. Injuries pushed him into a starting role for part of his sophomore season when he finished with 37 1/2 tackles (5 1/2 for loss), 1 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles and one recovered.

Hank Fowler found himself making critical plays after joining Carlos Baskerville and KJ Stallings in the three-linebacker sets. After posing five tackles as a sophomore, Hank Fowler made 71 tackles (five for loss) with one sack, two interceptions, one fumble forced and two recovered. The picks came at key times in postseason wins over St. Pius X (district semifinals) and Grain Valley (quarterfinals) while also recovering a fumble to set up a short score that allowed the Pirates to pull away early from Kirkwood in a state semifinals.

“Great run-fitters, guys who are so familiar with the defense they could probably call it and run it on their own,” Yost said. “We’ve seen awesome communication between Carlos and Hank. That’s a group that if they lead us in turnovers this year, we’d be thrilled, and I think they can do that.”

Stallings provided a steadying force and leadership in his lone year as a starter (73 tackles with 12 for loss, two sacks and an interception.

However, the return to a 4-2-5 means junior Trey Keraus, sophomore Carter Lanning and freshmen Rowdy Hawk and Brigham Nelson have a chance to develop into contributors while a pair of versatile players in the secondary have the ability to play at multiple levels.

Defensive Back

Platte County brings back four players with starting experience at safety with seniors Matt Cisco and Jack Johnson heading up a potentially versatile unit capable of multiple coverage looks. The Pirates must rely on senior Jordan Moore and Eric Dooley to take on bigger roles at cornerback.

A third-year contributor, Jack Johnson dealt with injuries each of the past two seasons while playing multiple spots but currently slots in as a strong safety. He has totaled 54 tackles (two for loss) with two pass breakups and an interception returned for a touchdown as a junior in a lopsided win over Ruskin.

Back at free safety, Cisco put up 44 tackles (one for loss), five pass breakups and two forced fumbles as a junior.

“The length and athleticism has been spectacular on the back end (of the defense),” Yost said. “Matt Cisco has offered some of the best leadership on the team but especially for that group back there and keeping them organized. This group feels like they have the ability to limit big plays.”

Platte County used a deep rotation in the secondary last season and graduated cornerbacks Mudiaga Egbedeju (33 tackles with three for loss one interception and one fumble recovery returned for a touchdown against Truman) and Adeboye Akande (29 tackles with three for loss and a team-high 7 PBUs. Moore ended up with only eight tackles but three interceptions, including a pair against Washburn Rural in one of his starts.

In addition, Mogie Walkingstick started all 14 games at safety and posted 51 tackles and two pass breakups, while Drew Tyson posted three tackles before missing most of the season with injury. Sipes also moves over to offense to create more opportunities.

Brandon Reynolds, who moves over from quarterback, now serves as a backup free safety and an important piece on all special teams.

Platte County seniors Maverick Troncin (20 tackles with two for loss, one sack and one forced fumble) and Devin Lumm (42 1/2 tackles with 6 1/2 for loss and two sacks) provide versatile options for the in-the-box safety spot. Troncin currently slots into the starting role but both also have the ability to contribute at linebacker, as needed.

“You start mixing in Maverick with his impressive size, and Lumm offers some blitzing ability and coverage,” Yost said. “You’ll see a good rotation with those guys.”

After Moore and Dooley, Platte County also has seniors Andrew Parrish and Jaden Mathurin (one tackle as a junior) on the depth chart at corner. Dooley saw extensive time with the reserves last season and posted five tackles with a pair of interceptions.

Specialists

Garnering attention from multiple college programs, Platte County senior Sterling Wilson returns to handle placekicking duties for a second straight season. He saw limited time as a sophomore and currently sits at 81 career PATs — 76 a year ago.

The 81 total currently places him tied for sixth in school history for a career, while the 76 ranks second for a single season.

The rest of the major spots have new starters.

Kade Fowler replaces Braiden Stevens at punter. Stevens punted 63 times across three seasons — just 13 as a senior — and averaged 33.2 yards per kick. Grant Fadler served as a steady long snapper, and this season, Hank Marriott and Braxton Seifert remain the options for the punt team while Miller Bigus will handle PATs and field goals.

Brandon Reynolds serves as an experienced holder for Wilson on the place-kicking unit.

The first players with a shot at kick returns and punt returns will be Jack Johnson and Jordan Moore. Stevens returned punts as a senior, while Ty Christopher averaged 31.9 yards per kickoff return, brining one back for a score in regular season wins over Grain Valley and Ruskin. Tres Baskerville returned kicks and spent time fielding punts as a sophomore and a junior.