Platte County avoids drama in comfortable victory to open Class 5 District 8 play

Platte County went into Friday’s Class 5 District 8 opener with two optimal scenarios in mind — build a big lead on the way to an expected convincing victory and avoid any injury scares. Not all went according to plan.

In an efficient and opportunistic effort, Platte County scored on five straight possession spanning from the midway point of the first quarter to early in the third in what ended up a comfortable 35-7 victory over Raytown at Pirate Stadium. The Pirates enjoyed a running clock for much of the third quarter but incurred additional concerns for the defensive secondary after senior cornerback Ayden Watts exited early in the second half with a leg injury of unknown severity.

Platte County (8-2) ran the current winning streak to five with sophomore running back Adam Gisler topping 100 yards on the ground again and scoring twice, while sophomore quarterback Rocco Marriott ran for another touchdown and threw for two more — one each to sophomore tight ends Jack Utz and Brooks Hall. The Pirates now undoubtedly face a stern challenge when third-seeded Fort Osage (6-4) travels to Pirate Stadium this week for one of the state’s most intriguing district semifinal matchups.

“That’s exactly how we drew it up — defense give us good field position and the offense capitalize when we had the opportunities,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “Yeah, I can’t be upset at all.”

The No. 2 seed, Platte County avoided any similar scenarios from the first meeting with Raytown despite similar final scores. The Blue Jays (1-9) entered on a seven-game losing skid and at the bottom of the pecking order in the seven-team bracket.

Yet in Week 6, Raytown led much of the first half before the Pirates took advantage of turnovers and pulled away for a 35-12 win in Suburban Conference White Division play. They again dominated on defense in the rematch, recovering two fumbles and grabbing another interception while holding a shutout until the closing minutes.

Raytown used both Talib Williams and Geguieffa Williams at quarterback but neither experienced much success. The Blue Jays finished with just 162 yards of offense and 85 came on a fourth quarter touchdown pass from Geguieffa Williams (3-of-9 for 95 yards) to Jordyn Robinson.

Talib Williams led Raytown with 47 yards rushing on seven attempts but finished with only 2 passing yards on 3-of-5 accuracy.

Platte County’s linebackers continued to thrive with junior Cobe Pollard recording a team-high six tackles, while junior Darrell Smith added five tackles plus a sack and a fumble recovery in the second quarter that led to Gisler’s second rushing touchdown. In addition, Pirates senior Seth Martin and sophomore Cale Buntz both had two tackles and one more for loss apiece, and junior Trevor Hay played his second full game back from a broken wrist and notched three tackles.

Up front, Platte County looked just as dominant with junior defensive tackle Jordan Miller posting two tackles plus one for loss and a sack, while senior defensive end Tucker McDowell (one tackle) and junior nose tackle Kameron Doyle also had a tackle for loss each. Markus Delfin, the rotational senior for the true defensive linemen, finished with one tackle.

“Our defense has stepped up tremendously. We’ve got some studs,” Platte County senior offensive guard Becker Grego said. “They just get the job done, and we’re proud of them. They make our job a lot easier.”

Because of the stingy defense, Platte County consistently played with a short field and dominated despite only 211 yards of offense. Marriott ended up 8 of 11 for just 89 yards with no turnovers, spreading completions to six different receivers — sophomore wide receivers Tres Baskerville (two for 11 yards) and Braiden Stevens (two for 10 yards) plus one each on the touchdowns for Jack Utz and Brooks Hall plus senior wide receiver Dawsen Mizell (one for 6 yards) and Gisler (one for 21 yards). The Pirates went to junior Brady Davis in the second half for a second straight week, and he finished 2-for-4 with 1 yards on completions to sophomore wide receiver Kylar Howren (1 yard) and junior Damond Tillotson (0 yards).

Platte County continued to lean on the run game with Gisler finishing with 106 yards on just 13 carries. He topped the 100 mark for a sixth time in 10 games as the solo featured back since junior Dayton Doll suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 1 against Kearney. Marriott added 27 yards on just three attempts, while junior Isaiah Seymour carried seven times in the second half but ended up with a total of 0 yards.

The success hinges on a rebuilt offensive line unit that has looked the same during the current five-game winnings streak — senior Muyonta Maxwell (left tackle), junior Drew Doll (left guard), junior Riley Hixson (center), Grego and senior Gage Fulk. In wake of a thumb injury, Grego switched spots with Hixson in a Week 5 loss to Oak Park, and sophomore Quinn Lightle, a starter much of his freshman year at right tackle, has been rotated in more and more since the same point in the season after returning from a knee injury suffered late in the preseason.

“I think especially with last year we didn’t have the outcome we wanted,” said Grego, who was in and out of the starting lineup as a junior on a constantly shifting unit that never found success in the run game last season. “Young players stepped up, got the job done, and yeah, I think our chemistry is really good this year.”

Raytown’s opening possession ended when Doyle grabbed running back Jaivion Jenkins (six carries, -8 yards) around the ankles as the ball spilled out for Miller to recover.

Marriott went 0-for-2 passing in what became an immediate three-and-out for Platte County, which promptly pinned the Blue Jays deep with a punt. The Pirates nearly recorded a safety, and after a shanked punt from the end zone, they need only three plays to take a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter on Gisler’s 16-yard touchdown run bounced off tackle and to the left pylon.

Raytown committed two penalties on the next drive, and after Smith sacked Geguieffa Williams on second down, the Blue Jays punted again.

Platte County concerted a fourth and short and then faced a third-and-1 at the 7. Marriott quickly went under center for what started as a quarterback sneak but ended up in an easy push behind Doll for a 7-yard touchdown run. The Pirates were up 14-0 with 3 seconds left in the first quarter and were in firm control despite limited offense to that point.

“We expected a couple of yards, but of course, Rocco Marriott is going to do what Rocco Marriott does and that’s score a touchdown,” Grego said.

Raytown showed signs of life with a long pass completion on the opening drive of the second quarter but negated the progress with a post-play unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Three plays later, Talib Williams mishandled a snap, and after Martin botched an initial attempt to fall on the fumble for Platte County, Smith scooped up the ball and nearly scored a second touchdown in two games after being one of three players along with senior cornerback Jordan Burnett and junior safety Montez Clemons to return interceptions for scores in a 48-6 demolition of William Chrisman in the regular season finale a week earlier.

Baskerville ran for 7 yards on the next play before a 2-yard completion to Stevens set up a third-and-1. Raytown stopped Gisler for no gain, but on fourth and 1 from the 11, he gained 9 yards before plowing in for a 2-yard touchdown on the next play to give Platte County a 21-0 lead. The Pirates were able to make it a 28-0 lead before halftime but only after the first and only sustained drive of the night.

Raytown went three-and-out but blasted a 60-yard punt down to the 9-yard line.

Marriott converted a third-and-1 with a 21-yard scamper around left end, and Baskerville averted a potential disaster for Platte County when he fell on a Gisler fumble at the end of a 21-yard reception. The Pirates then overcame a holding penalty with Marriott finding Jack Utz wide open over the middle on a second-and-20 for a 26-yard touchdown — his first receiving score of the season and first since hauling the first passing score of Marriott’s career last fall against Park Hill South.

“We thought we could run the ball a little bit,” Bill Utz said. “Early on, we were kind of feeling them out a little bit. I think they probably thought the same thing, so we maybe overthought it trying to counter some things we thought they might do. I’m going to give them credit. The first couple of series their defense stepped up and played pretty well, made some plays. Once our offensive line got oiled up a little bit and started working then obviously good things happened.”

Platte County opted not to use timeouts in the final 1:11 of the second quarter and instead opted to bring the starters out after taking the opening kickoff of the second half. Gisler immediately busted off a 44-yard run to over 100 yards on the day, and on the next play, Marriott scrambled around before finding Hall wide open near the right pylon for an easy score.

Remaining perfect on extra-point tries this season, Platte County junior kicker Jackson Goodale extended the lead to 35-0 and started the running clock just 28 seconds into the third quarter.

“We could have taken timeouts there (in the second quarter), but by the time we would’ve got it back, you’re only looking at being able to do a few things,” Bill Utz said. “With the situation of getting the ball back (after halftime) and the lead we had, I was good with where we were at. I wasn’t too concerned, and then we got the 35-point lead anyway. I wanted to bring the offense back in the second half, and if we would’ve scored at the end of the second quarter, we wouldn’t have. I actually wanted it to be a little bit of a longer drive, but we’ll take it how we get it.”

The biggest negative for Platte County happened on the next drive when Watts (three tackles) went down with an apparent leg injury, which required assistance for him to exit the field. He took over as a starter in Week 4 after junior safety Caden McGhee suffered a season-ending torn ACL on an interception return in the Week 3 win over North Kansas City.

That led to shifting junior Taylor Stambersky over from cornerback, although he continued to rotate with Watts depending on the game situation. However, Stambersky missed Friday’s game after discovering a break to the non-load-bearing fibula in his leg.

That leaves Burnett (one tackle) as the only healthy cornerback from the normal rotation, while Clemons (one tackle) and junior Ty Christopher (four tackles) have now become every-down safeties.

With Watts’ status unknown for this week, Platte County must consider going deeper down the depth chart, finding an offensive player to move or utilizing the existing versatility of Clemons, Christopher, Martin, Hay, Buntz and junior linebacker Archie Wesley to make due in big spots.

“We’ve had a ton of injuries back there, and Ayden was having a great season — and still might be,” Bill Utz said of Watts, who recorded an interception in four straight games and returned one for a score in a win over Belton. “We have to get an X-ray and evaluate, but we might have to go back to the drawing board a bit. I’m more concerned about him as an individual and a player. You just hate to see it. I absolutely hate injuries; it’s the worst part of the game.

“From Day 1, we knew we had to move guys around to different spots, so the nice thing is there are kids who can play multiple positions. We’ll just have to sit down and look at what our best options are. At this point in the season, you’re putting kids where you need to to put us into the best possible scenario.”

Platte County did eventually rotate in all reserves for defense as well with junior linebacker Merrit Bigus and sophomore defensive back Zach Burch both finishing with two tackles, and sophomore defensive lineman Cooper Hammontree (one tackle), sophomore linebacker Nate Bayse, freshman defensive lineman Bordy Hawk, freshman linebacker Carlos Baskerville and freshman Adaboye Akande each notching one apiece. The big highlight for the Pirates reserves came when senior cornerback Savion Jones intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter, much to the delight of the entire sideline.

“Savion is a kid who has fought for a long time to get on the field. He is a classic example of a kid that puts in the offseason work and wants to get better,” Bill Utz said. “For him to have that moment, it was special. It’s really what makes me do my job. It’s fun to see him take advantage of that opportunity.”

The turnover helped hold the shutout until the long 85-yard pass play on Raytown’s final possession of the game.

At that point, Platte County could already start thinking about the pending matchup with Fort Osage, which pulled away early on the way to a 42-6 blowout of No. 6 seed Winnetonka (2-8) on Friday. That set up the semifinal most expected after Grain Valley (8-1) earned the top seed and first round bye through wins over Fort Osage in Week 1 and Platte County in Week 4.

With both teams having spent time in the Class 5 Missouri state media poll this season, Platte County ended up with the second seed by virtue of fewer losses. The Pirates ended up losing to Grain Valley and Class 6 Oak Park (9-0) in back-to-back weeks to drop to 3-2 before running off the current unbeaten streak. Fort Osage also lost to Kearney 21-14 in an 0-2 start and Class 6 Blue Springs to drop to 1-3 but won four straight before a loss to Oak Park in the regular season finale. The Indians held the No. 2 seed to that point but lost home field advantage when the standings shifted.

Platte County beat Kearney 21-18 in Week 1.

However, Platte County and Fort Osage ultimately look pretty similar for external metrics. The two teams have only met once before with Fort Osage prevailing in the 2021 Class 5 District 8 championship game. The Indians also advanced to last year’s title game before losing to Oak Park, which bumped up to Class 6 this year in the state’s new postseason alignment that allowed Grain Valley to shift up from District 7.

“A team that looks a lot like us in a lot of places. Scores are very similar,” Bill Utz said. “It should be a great high school game. There’s a lot of similarities between the two of us.”