Hill’s career night carries Platte County to win in 105th game against Smithville

With Smithville taking timeouts in one final desperate attempt to keep hope alive, Caleb Hill dashed all hope with a lengthy gallop into the end zone.

Platte County’s breakout junior running back provided the final blow in a 38-17 victory over a a perennial rival Friday night at Pirate Stadium. He scored four more rushing touchdowns, doubling his total from the first three games of his first season as a starter.

Smithville (1-3) scored off of two out of three forced turnovers to stay within striking distance most of the second half.

“Legs didn’t feel good. Started to cramp up a little bit, but punched it in there,” said Hill, who finished with a career-high 183 yards on 26 carries. “I got in there, got the job done.”

The 105th all-time meeting between the two schools started with a C-130 airplane flyover on Military Appreciation Night and added another chapter of a series that dates to 1911.

Platte County now holds a 64-35-6 advantage in the matchups with Smithville, and both teams entered and exited ranked in the Missouri Media state polls. The Pirates bolted to a 17-0 lead in the first half but needed a big defensive stand out of halftime to set up Hill’s third rushing touchdown.

Smithville’s tough start to the season now includes loss to the top-two ranked teams in Class 4 (Kearney and Savannah) and Class 5 No. 2 Platte County (3-1). The Warriors dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in this week’s Class 4 poll.

“We’re going to continue to clean up mistakes week to week and do a better job of taking care of the ball,” Platte County coach Derek Yost said. “If you look at the box score tonight, 38-17, you can attribute a lot of that to turnovers, and the defense played incredibly well. So yeah, ugly at times, but they came out and executed when it mattered.

“We’re yet to play a complete game.”

Platte County generally played efficient on offense, while seniors Devin Lumm tackles, Maverick Troncin and Jordan Moore — all with two tackles apiece — notched interceptions to keep the turnover differential even.

Smithville junior quarterback Quentin Morse provided the majority of the offense on a 59-yard run in the second quarter that set up his 5-yard scoring plunge on the next play. Otherwise, Platte County senior linebackers Carlos Baskerville (10 tackles, one for loss) and Hank Fowler (four tackles) and the defensive line of seniors Kyler Parker (six tackles, two for loss) and Brody Hawk (five tackles) plus junior Greyson Reik (career-high six tackles) and sophomore Phin McMain (sack, three tackles, one for loss) were persistent and swarming.

In fact, Platte County would have recorded a fourth turnover, but a penalty negated an interception for senior safety Matt Cisco (four tackles) in the first half.

“Those guys are ball hawks,” Yost said. “Those guys are super good at finding the ball in the air and going and getting it. That’s their calling card. That’s something that we preach all the time and talk about but for guys and teams to go out and execute isn’t easy.”

Back up to a No. 2 ranking in Class 5 following another out-of-state loss for Cardinal Ritter, Platte County (3-1) looked prepared to extend the winning streak over Smithville to four with a third straight blowout but instead extended the current run after a few nervous moments.

Smithville trailed 17-14 coming out of halftime after scoring twice in the final two minutes of the first half and received the opening kickoff but immediately went three-and-out on the series with a tackle for loss from Baskerville and a batted down pass from Parker. The Warriors punted and were back behind 24-14 after Hill’s third short rushing touchdown.

Platte County again forced a quick three-and-out, but a muffed punt squelched the momentum. The Pirates’ defense stiffened on a short field and held Smithville to senior Carter Schmidt’s 26-yard field goal.

“We challenged the whole team at halftime about being resilient,” Yost said. “I think they had negative yards or no yards on that first possession, and the ability to get the ball back. That was really what we needed. We had the mistake on the punt return, but the defense did exactly what we needed them to do.”

The miscue on the punt ended up Platte County’s final turnover, and a pair of touchdowns on third-and-10 plays in the fourth quarter provided the final margin of victory. What ended up just the second possession for the Pirates in the second half ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Kade Fowler to senior wide receiver Jude Brown, who finished with team-highs of five catches for 40 yards.

However, Fowler needed a third-and-10 completion three plays earlier just to extend the drive. He scrambled right and threw a 15-yard pass over the middle to junior Hank Marriott, who reached back and seemingly pinned the ball against his helmet to complete the catch.

Three plays later, Fowler faded back and threw to the left side of the end zone where Brown drew a pass interference penalty but still hauled in the pass while enduring the contact to increase Platte County’s lead to 31-17 with 9:22 left in regulation.

“Hank and Jude are two guys who worked extremely hard during the work to make things go,” Yost said. “Jude had a big recovery this week and was a little bit banged up but did a great job to get back and be available. Super happy for him to have that moment.

“And Hank’s going to continue to develop as a weapon. He’s four weeks into playing on offense, and he’s made some huge catches for us.”

After Brown’s second touchdown of the season, Platte County picked off Morse on each of the next two possessions — Moore’s second of the season on an ill-advised deep ball and Troncin’s second in as many weeks at the edge of the red zone on another well-read play on the outside. The Pirates punted after Moore’s stop, and a long return gave Smithville more life.

However, Troncin brought his pick back 45 yards all the way to the Warriors’ 39 with just 3 minutes left.

Hill scored three plays later on the last of Platte County’s 230 rushing yards. Fowler went 11-for-17 with 124 yards and the score plus two interceptions behind an offensive line that appears to have survived a late scare. The Pirates again started seniors Cooper Koenigsfeld (left tackle), James Moiyallah (left guard) and Reece Moppin (right guard) plus juniors Miller Bigus (center) and Max Shuey (right tackle). However, junior Gabe Mitchell also rotated in at guard in the second week without sophomore Daxton Leuschen (knee), while senior Sayer Reik came in late after Koenigsfeld went down with an apparent leg issue that doesn’t appear to require him to miss any time.

“I seriously cannot do it without the big guys up front,” Hill said. “I thank them every single time there’s a good run, every single time at practice.”

Platte County wasted little time in taking control against Smithville, which last won a game in the series in 2022.

While hanging in and taking a hit from a Smithville pass rusher, Fowler hit Omoike for a 52-yard completion on the opening possession to set up Hill’s 3-yard touchdown run, giving him at least one in all four games this season. The teams then exchanged interceptions with the first of Lumm’s career turned into another score for Hill and a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

That set the tone for Platte County’s experienced secondary that also included senior safety Jack Johnson (five tackles) and junior cornerback Eric Dooley (four tackles). In addition, senior safety Brandon Reynolds and senior cornerback Andrew Parrish made a pair of tackles each on special teams.

A week after the first shutout of the season against William Chrisman, Platte County allowed 17 points but 10 came directly from two of the turnovers, while the other seven resulted from the lone big play allowed.

“It’s always good beating Smithville,” Parker said. “It was a fun way to do it, got a little adversity. Came out after half and played great.”

Platte County senior kicker Sterling Wilson ended up with a field goal for a third straight week, this time connecting on a 31-yarder in the second quarter with 9:26 left in the first half in addition to staying perfect on the season on extra points while going 5-for-5 against Smithville.

Then the offense missed a few opportunities despite steady production from Hill and junior running back Brady McDaniel (12 carries, 43 yards).

Morse’s long run and touchdown provided the slightest of opening, and Smithville junior cornerback Tristen Steffen completely changed the direction of the game moments later. Fowler stood again under pressure but threw late down the right, and Steffen stepped in front to pick off the pass, then going untouched 42 yards for a touchdown that closed the gap to 17-14 with just 46 seconds left before halftime.

The two interceptions were the only real blemishes for Fowler, who spread his completions between five receivers. In addition to Brown, Marriott (26 yards), sophomore wide receiver Owen Yates (1 yard) and freshman tight end Braxton Seifert (12 yards) all finished with two catches apiece, while Omoike had only the one big play.

“We look at this as growing pains,” Yost said. “I talked to Kade after the second interception and told him to stay level-headed. We’re living with this. This is what’s going to happen sometimes in a football game. Smithville is a well-coached team and was in the right spots a couple of times.”

“But Kade’s growth has been awesome, and we’re excited about the level he can get to.”

Platte County now owns back-to-back victories since a Week 2 loss to Blue Springs South ended the Pirates’ 29-game win streak. The new run carries into this week’s matchup at Grain Valley (2-2), which enters off of an unexpected 24-22 loss to undefeated Raytown (4-0).

Suddenly, Platte County’s pending three-game stretch against Grain Valley, Raytown and Fort Osage (1-3) becomes even more consequential in pursuit of a third straight Suburban Conference White Division title in addition to Class 5 District 8 seeding. Platte County, Raytown and Fort Osage currently occupy the top three spots in the District 8 standings ahead of William Chrisman (2-2), Winnetonka (1-3), Lincoln Prep (1-3) and Truman (0-4).

Platte County beat Grain Valley in each of the last three meetings between the two teams, including both last season, in an increasingly frequent rivalry series with a much shorter history than the one with Smithville. The Pirates have only played one team more times than Smithville (West Platte, 107).

Platte County is 9-4 all-time against Grain Valley.

“We see every game as a statement game,” Hill said.