Christopher, Gisler pull Platte County out of brief early offensive funk in regular season finale

RAYTOWN, Mo. — Ty Christopher made a change in jersey number for this season to No. 7 from No. 11.

Regardless, the Platte County senior wide receiver always thinks he’s open — just like the convenience store using the same combination of numbers. Against Raytown on Friday night, Christopher didn’t necessarily come open on either of his touchdown catches and even endured obvious contact that went unflagged on both plays. They were two of the most notable plays in the Pirates’ 42-7 victory at Ted Chitwood Stadium that featured uncharacteristically slow-starting offense.

Christopher’s 28-yard over-the-shoulder scoring grab were the game’s first points after Platte County went scoreless in the first quarter for the first time since a Week 5 win over Belton last season and didn’t hold a lead entering the second quarter since the following week against Smithville.

“We know how to come back from (a slow start), create our own energy,” said Christopher, who now has nine receiving touchdowns in his past six games.

Platte County senior running back Adam Gisler added a season-high 167 rushing yards and a trio of touchdowns on the ground — two in the first half. However, the Pirates were held out of the end zone on their first drive and narrowly survived facing their first deficit since going behind 7-0 in Week 3 of last season against Fort Osage.

Still the No. 1 team in the Class 5 Missouri media poll, Platte County (9-0) made an early goal-line stand, and junior linebacker Hank Fowler (seven tackles), making a second straight start in the defense’s shift to a more traditional 4-3 look, came up with an sack late in the first quarter to force Raytown into a punt and fully turn the momentum. The Blue Jays ended up gaining just 52 yards on offense and didn’t score until trailing 42-0 late in the third quarter.

Platte County didn’t force a turnover, but senior linebacker KJ Stallings led a solid cumulative effort with 11 tackles (one for loss) while junior linebacker Carlos Baskerville finished with three tackles and a sack. The Pirates starting defensive end combo of senior Cale Buntz (three tackles) and junior Brody Hawk (five tackles, one for loss) split the other sack, while senior defensive tackle Cole Johnson totaled six tackles (two for loss).

“I know for me and everybody out there, it’s just do your jobs, and we’ll be OK,” Platte County junior defensive tackle Kyler Parker (one tackle) said. “We trust our coaches. AS long as we don’t play selfish, we’ll be OK.”

With the win, Platte County officially locked up the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 8 and the accompanying bye in this week’s first round. The Pirates now await the winner between fourth-seeded St. Pius X (5-4) and fifth-seeded Winnetonka (5-4).

However, Raytown (5-4) didn’t readily wilt, even entering on a two-game losing skid and directly off of a surprising 40-16 loss to William Chrisman the previous week. The Blue Jays took the opening kickoff, and senior Micah Hall immediately took the return to Platte County’s 36-yard line.

Forced into a fourth and 4, Raytown gambled, and sophomore Kayden Downing hit lanky and speedy senior wide receiver Roger Haney for a 29-yard gain down to the 1.

Platte County held on the first play and then induced a false start with a late shift of the defensive line on second down. With Parker the clear emotional leader during the red zone sequence, the Pirates made another stop on a run play for no gain around two incompletions, the second coming after an offsides penalty put the ball at the 3.

“It made them quiet down a little bit. We kind of set the tone with that,” Parker said. “It wasn’t a good first drive to start, but we ended good.”

Platte County’s offense then faced a long field, and a 38-yard completion from senior quarterback Rocco Marriott to senior wide receiver Braiden Stevens the big gain to help put the Pirates reach Raytown’s 7.

However, Marriott, who finished with three passing touchdowns, took a rare sack on second down and threw an incompletion on fourth and goal turn the ball over on downs. Fowler’s sack doomed Raytown’s ensuing possession, and the Blue Jays punted the ball away and never held possession again without having a deficit.

Following a punt, Platte County needed just three plays to score with Marriott finding Christopher down the visitor’s sideline for the 28-yard catch to put the Pirates up 7-0 with 11 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first half.

“It’s a big part of the game to go get a ball, especially when it’s a 50/50 ball. You’ve got to go win those as a receiver,” said Christopher, who finished with four catches for 72 yards.

Platte County scored on six consecutive possessions, including all three full drives in the second quarter.

Gisler accounted for two of those, the first coming on a run play that started left only for the senior running back to cut all the way back across the field and sneak inside the right pylon for a 48-yard touchdown. The Pirates then forced a third straight punt and again needed just two plays to score with Stevens shaking a defender with a crafty double move and hauling in a pass wide open and then racing the rest of the way to end zone for a 64-yard score.

Now with at least one touchdown in every game this season, Stevens finished with a game-high five catches for 128 yards, and his longest reception put Platte County up 21-0 with 3:25 left in the first half. Gisler, now with two touchdowns in each of his four games since missing nearly three full games due to injury, added a 26-yard run to the end zone to cut short what otherwise would have been a 2-minute drill opportunity and left Raytown with exactly a minute before halftime. The lead held at 28-0 going to the break.

“Coming down here, the rain and everything, we were kind of wanting a little bit of adversity to see how it went,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “Obviously, our crowd was great, but there was nothing on the other side. It was really kind of a dead atmosphere, and that was our challenge. We gave up the kick return, but I thought the defense stepped up.

“We’re upset because that’s the first time we stalled out all year and didn’t score on the first drive. To be in that situation, we’re obviously pretty blessed, but after that, the kids found another gear.”

Platte County took the opening kickoff of the second half, and Gisler’s third touchdown came on a 33-yard run around left end, doing the majority of his work on the night behind the combination of seniors Michael Poncavage (left guard) and Quinn Lightle (left tackle). The Pirates also changed up the offensive line with freshman Jayden Horn making a second career start, this time at right guard, in between senior Lucas Dillingham (center) and junior Cooper Koenigsfeld. He previously filled in for Poncavage when he missed a game early in the season due to injury.

Totaling 200 yards rushing, Platte County also used senior running back Zach Burch (three carries for 34 yards) while building the lead to running clock status in the third quarter with Raytown blocking the first extra point attempt of the second half to keep the deficit at 34-0.

Marriott ended up an efficient 16-for-21 overall with 270 yards, spreading the completions to his five main senior targets. In addition to Stevens and Christopher, Platte County wide receiver Tres Baskerville added four catches for 40 yards, while tight ends Jack Utz (two for 18 yards) and Brooks Hall (one for 12 yards) were also involved.

After seeing almost no resistance in dominant wins over Truman (63-0) and Ruskin (70-6), Platte County did have to work harder, but Marriott still has more touchdown passes on the season (39) than incompletions (35).

“We get the bye this week, and then we get into really tough games,” Utz said. “We needed some of this adversity before we go into districts. This gives us something to focus on. That season is over, and that one isn’t near as fun as the next one we’re getting into. Honestly, that’ kind of where their personalities shine. They’ve been looking forward to getting to this point for a long time.”

Marriott capped his day with another throw into a tight window to Christopher, who endured early contact but still hauled in a pass with a defender draped on him for a 22-yard score in the same part of the end zone as his first scoring grab. Burch added a two-point run to extend Platte County’s lead to 42-0 and start the running clock with just under 5 minutes left in the third quarter. The Pirates’ defense then allowed the touchdown pass, a 60-yarder to senior wide receiver Jaeden Davis from Downing, who finished 15-for-27 for 132 yards — 85 on two of those completions.

Platte County’s secondary started with seniors Adeboye Akande (career-high seven tackles, one for loss, and a pass defensed) and Mudiaga Egbedeju (four tackles) at cornerback, while senior Mogie Walkingstick (three tackles) and junior Matt Cisco (two tackles and two passes defensed) were the safeties in the base look. However, the Pirates continued to rotate with junior defensive back Jack Johnson and junior safety/linebacker Devin Lumm adding two tackles apiece.

With the lead in hand, Platte County took out the starting offense to start the fourth quarter, and junior quarterback Brandon Reynolds went 0-for-2 passing while junior running back Cassius Guillory rushed twice for 5 yards to result in a turnover on downs. The Pirates’ reserve defense held from there with senior defensive linemen Cooper Hammontree and JoJo Wolo, sophomore defensive linemen Miller Bigus and Greyson Reik and junior Noah Omoike all recording a tackle.

“This kind of shows who these kids are,” Bill Utz said. “They understood we weren’t at our standard, and they went and found it, so I was actually happy with how that turned out. Everybody was positive; there was no negativity.”

Platte County moved the winning streak to 23 straight dating back to last year’s undefeated state title season. The Pirates have now guaranteed no road games until the playoffs, holding the right to host the Class 5 District 8 championship game with a semifinal win over either St. Pius X or Winnetonka.

The other first round matchups in the seven-team bracket pit No. 2 Rockhurst (7-2) vs. No. 7 William Chrisman (3-6) and No. 3 Fort Osage (6-3) and No. 6 Truman (2-7).

Last year, Platte County topped St. Pius X in blowout fashion to win the Class 5 District 8 title. Rockhurst held a claim to the No. 1 seed until late in the season with losses to Blue Springs and Liberty North — both Class 6 schools with winning records. However, the Hawklets closed the season with a blowout win over SLUH (7-2) ahead of the program’s first known season outside of Missouri’s largest classification.