Grain Valley senior running back scores 6 TDs as Eagles hand Platte County 1st loss of season

In many ways, Platte County might have lucked out Ty Williams didn’t receive more carries.

Grain Valley pulled away for a 45-24 victory Friday night at Pirate Stadium, almost entirely on the legs of the powerful senior running back. Williams carried 28 times for an eye-popping 355 yards and added two catches for 63 yards. He accounted for all six of the Eagles’ touchdowns in a critical matchup between Class 5-ranked Suburban Conference White Division rivals that likely decided the top seed in District 8.

Platte County (3-1) must quickly regroup after seeing a dream undefeated start end in devastating fashion. The Pirates’ youthful roster opened with “upsets” of Class 4-ranked rivals Kearney and Smithville before shutting out North Kansas City in Week 3 but faced a different type of challenge against Grain Valley’s physical offensive and defensive fronts and relentless rushing attack.

“Good ballplayer,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said of Williams. “Yeah, he’s a good ball player.”

Williams did much of his damage on big plays with four of his touchdowns accounting for more than half of his 418 yards of total offense.

Platte County never led but did close within 17-14 at halftime and went into the fourth quarter down just 10 points. However, the Pirates ended up committing turnovers on three straight possessions early in the fourth quarter, and Williams scored on runs of 13, 1 and 65 yards in the final 10 minutes, 39 seconds to stretch out the lead.

Even missing junior safety Caden McGhee (knee) and junior linebacker Trevor Hay (wrist), Platte County simply didn’t make enough open-field tackles to contain Grain Valley’s offense.

“We had chances to get some hits on him, and we did,” Utz said. “There were a lot of times we did exactly what we were supposed to do, but if you give him a little bit of a window, he’s a good enough player to make things happen. And on top of that, they blocked well for him.”

Grain Valley (3-1) entered off of a loss to Class 6 No. 7-ranked Oak Park (4-0) but still held the No. 3 spot in the most recent Class 5 Missouri media poll. Platte County had moved all the way up to No. 6, setting up a game broadcast on local cable television with plenty of storylines in play.

The winner took control of both the conference title race and the battle for the Class 5 District 8 top seed and first-round bye.

After Platte County punted on the game’s opening possession, Grain Valley took control and established an eventual theme on its first official offensive snap. An illegal formation penalty set up first and 15, and Williams busted around right end and broke tackles on the way to a 70-yard touchdown scamper to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead just 2:44 into the first quarter.

“On the flip side, if we kick to them they could have had a big play, too,” Utz said. “You never want to start out that way, obviously, and you’re dealing with an experienced team that’s been playing pretty well but coming off of a loss last week. They were ready to play right out of the gate.”

Platte County then encountered adversity. On the second play of the Pirates’ second drive, sophomore quarterback Rocco Marriott hit senior wide receiver Dawsen Mizell behind two defenders for an apparent 65-yard touchdown pass. However, a holding penalty called the play back and negated any potential momentum.

Two plays later, Marriott appeared to hit sophomore wide receiver Tres Baskerville for a completion to convert third-and-20, but a Grain Valley defender appeared to pull him down by the back of his shoulder pads to separate him from the ball. No flag was thrown on the play.

Marriott struggled to consistently find receivers from that point against another strong defense, finishing 12 of 33 for 169 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Mizell, who returned from a three-game suspension for an unspecified reason, finished with one catch for 19 yards, while Baskerville caught a team-high three passes for 28 yards but failed to reach the end zone for the first time this season.

Platte County’s defense, which gave sophomore Cale Buntz a start at linebacker, did step up in big moments around the big plays. Darrell Smith, a junior linebacker, led the way with eight tackles plus one for loss, while junior linebacker Cobe Pollard (six tackles), senior linebacker Seth Martin (six tackles), junior safety Montez Clemons (six tackles), senior defensive lineman Tucker McDowell (three tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack), Buntz (four tackles plus two for loss) and junior linebacker Archie Wesley (three tackles) were also consistently around the ball.

The group stepped up to stop Williams for a 3-yard loss on a fourth and short on Grain Valley’s second possession to switch up field position.

Platte County took advantage using the rushing attack with an offensive line of seniors Muyonta Maxwell (left tackle), Gage Fulk (right tackle) and Becker Grego (center) and juniors Drew Doll (left guard) and Riley Hixson (right guard) attacking light defensive boxes. Pirates sophomore running back Adam Gisler — making his third career start after junior Dayton Doll suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 1 — ended up totaling 91 yards on 22 carries.

Gisler accounted for 34 yards on the ground on a tying touchdown drive late in the first quarter, while a fake to him allowed Marriott to just stretch across the goal line for a 3-yard score to cap the 51-yard march.

However, Grain Valley answered back with a 30-yard touchdown from Williams, and after forcing a punt, the Eagles used a 46-yard burst from him to set up a 19-yard field goal from Ben Drinkwater to extend the advantage to 17-7 with just 5:55 left before halftime.

That’s when Platte County produced its most impressive drive of the night.

Marriott hit sophomore wide receiver Braiden Stevens for a 53-yard gain to push into Grain Valley territory, and three plays later, junior wide receiver Lane Webb caught a 20-yarder on third and 11 to put the Pirates at the 1. Gisler plowed into the end zone on the next play to close the deficit to 17-14 with 3:36 on the clock.

Platte County actually took the ball in the closing minutes with a chance to tie or take the lead ahead of halftime but went three-and-out but would not have again within one possession.

Grain Valley took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and immediately faced a third and six only for senior quarterback Sal Caldarella, who finished 7 of 17 of 115 yards, found Williams over the middle of the field as a relief valve. However, he broke multiple tackles and scampered 61 yards for a touchdown to put the Eagles up 24-14.

The score remained there going to the fourth quarter after the two teams exchanged punts, and Platte County gave the ball back on a failed fourth and short midfield.

Platte County’s defensive front, which again featured McDowell, junior nose tackle Kameron Doyle (one tackle) and junior Jordan Miller (one tackle plus one tackle for a loss) in starting roles while rotating in seniors Kevin Taylor and Markus Delfin (one tackle), eventually faced a first and goal at the 1. The Pirates then stopped Caldarella for a 4-yard loss, and Doyle finished off Williams 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage on fourth and goal from the 3.

“I liked the setup we put ourselves in. Even going into the fourth quarter I felt like we had enough time and an ability to make up a couple of scores,” Bill Utz said. “I felt very confident going into the fourth quarter because our defense made some plays and got the ball back.”

Platte County took over deep in its own territory, and Marriott threw his first interception deep down he middle on fourth and long.

Williams ran for 22 and 13 yards on two carries to account for the 35 yards on the ensuing touchdown drive. Down 31-14, the Pirates actually survived the next two turnovers without further damage. They went on another long drive after a 32-yard kickoff return from sophomore safety Ty Christopher. Marriott completed passes to sophomore tight end Jack Utz, Baskerville, Gisler and Baskerville again to move the ball inside the 10.

A 4-yard scramble from Marriott and an encroachment penalty led to third and goal at the 1, only for a high snap to lead to a fumble Grain Valley recovered.

“When we needed to be in sync from a whole offense to defense to special teams, we just weren’t in sync,” Bill Utz said. “If you take parts throughout the whole game, there’s bright spots on all three units, but when we needed to put a string together to feed off of each other, we just didn’t get that done, and we had done that the previous three games.

Platte County received a momentary reprieve when the next play ended with an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone as McDowell twisted Caldarella to the ground for what would have been a sack. Platte County closed back within 31-16 and took the ball on a free kick and return that put the Pirates back in Grain Valley’s territory. However, Marriott scrambled to his left on the next play and ended up with throwing his second interception trying to force a pass back across the field.

Jack Utz finished with three catches for 13 yards, while Gisler added two receptions for 32 yards but didn’t receive nearly as many carries as the Pirates attempted to play from behind.

“Time plays into that,” Bill Utz said. “That doesn’t help. That’s the whole point. If you get somebody down by a score or two, you make them more one-dimensional and now there’s an even bigger advantage.”

Grain Valley ended up punting, but four plays later, the Eagles took the ball back deep in Platte County’s territory. They gave the ball to Williams on three straight plays for rushes of 6, 9 and 13 yards to extend the lead out to 38-16.

Platte County’s final positive came when Baskerville returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards, and two plays later, Marriott hit sophomore tight end Brooks Hall for his only reception of the night — a 4-yard touchdown — and the first of his career. A two-point pass from Marriott to Mizell pulled the Pirates to 38-24 with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter.

On the next play, Williams rumbled 65 yards for a final touchdown and dagger.

With McGhee out after suffering a knee injury after an interception the week prior against North Kansas City, Platte County moved junior Taylor Stambersky (four tackles) inside to a safety spot alongside Christopher (three tackles) and Clemons, while senior Jordan Burnett (three tackles) remained a starter at one cornerback spot. Ayden Watts, a senior transfer, received his first start, but the reconfigured secondary ended up in too many one-on-one situations against a running back listed at 6-foot, 200 pounds who won the majority of those scenarios.

“There’s a reason that older kids end up usually making some plays because there’s that extra gear there that you have to learn you have,” Bill Utz said. “We’ve got it, and we’re real, real close. The thing we have are some mistakes that won’t be made again.”

“You’ve got to learn as a team. This is really the first time we went down by more than one score so they have to learn how to react to that and be able to play through that.”

Grain Valley remained at No. 3 in the most recent Class 5 poll, and Platte County also held steady at No. 6. However, the Pirates face another top-level challenge this week with Oak Park’s multi-pronged rushing attack. The Northmen visit Pirate Stadium this year after bumping up to Class 6.

Oak Park won both meetings between the two teams last year, including the Class 5 District 8 semifinal matchup that ended Platte County’s season. The Pirates struggled to stop the run in both matchups at Oak Park High School and surely expect to see a focused ground-based attack after the Week 4 results against Grain Valley.

“(Oak Park) just beat the team that beat us,” Bill Utz said. “Our scheduled doesn’t do us any favors. We’ll see what we’re made of with how we bounce back. That’s what I’m challenging them with. You don’t have a choice. You have to bounce back.”

The result should have little affect on Platte County’s postseason positioning. Grain Valley took a commanding lead in the Class 5 District 8 standings, and with Oak Park moving up, Platte County should retain a healthy hold on the No. 2 spot ahead of Raytown, Forst Osage, William Chrisman, Winnetonka and North Kansas City — five teams with a 1-3 record jockeying for position.

Platte County’s remaining schedule includes Class 6 Oak Park and Park Hill South (1-3) along with head-to-head games against Raytown and William Chrisman plus a conference matchup with Belton (3-1).