Platte County beats rival Grain Valley by exactly 31 points for 2nd straight season

The margin of victory ended up exactly the same and the somewhat misleading final score came with additional similarities but also some new oddities.

Platte County’s 54-23 victory over rival Grain Valley on Friday night at Pirate Stadium again included a running clock for a portion of the second half but ultimately didn’t fully reflect the overall dominance. The Pirates rolled up more than 600 yards of offense with senior quarterback Rocco Marriott throwing for four touchdowns, two to senior tight end Brooks Hall. The second seemingly put the finishing touches on a blowout only for a safety and a touchdown against the reserve defense to slow down the proceedings.

The game featured three total kickoff returns for touchdowns — one a 99-yarder from Platte County senior Ty Christopher to answer one of two for Grain Valley in the first half, which included a lengthy delay for an unfortunate dislocated elbow injury to Pirates senior wide receiver/long snapper Grant Fadler. A year earlier, the Eagles briefly led in the first half thanks to a pair of safeties on botched snaps while generating the majority of their points on a pair of 80-yard touchdown runs in a 52-21 loss.

“Last year, was a little bit different because it was lopsided halves,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “It’s a little bit difference in that sense. In this case, we felt really good defensively. We were doing a good job defensively, just gave up those special teams scores, which we have to clean up.

“I think we felt a little more in control than we did a year ago but still just that frustrating inability to fully put it out of reach. There were things that we can control that kept us from doing that.”

Marriott finished 18-for-25 passing with a career-high 379 yards — the first time going over 300 in his record-setting career — to lead another dominant win for Platte County (2-0), ranked No. 1 for a second straight week in the Missouri Media Class 5 poll while garnering all nine first-place votes. The Pirates scored on five of six first-half possessions but missed an extra point and gave up the two kick returns for scores to end up with a 40-14 lead at halftime.

Hall set career-highs and led Platte County with seven catches for 108 yards, while senior running back Adam Gisler reached the end zone on the ground twice for a second straight week. Their touchdowns in the third quarter extended the Pirates’ lead to 54-14 and started a running clock, only for an errant snap from the reserve offense and a touchdown for Grain Valley on the resulting possession to close the gap to 31 for the game’s final 7:55.

Marriott threw five touchdowns in a 56-7 Week 1 victory over William Chrisman, giving him nine through just two weeks in a dominant start to his third season as a starter.

“I think if Rocco gives us that every week, we’re going to do pretty well,” Utz said.

Replacing 10 starters from a year ago and facing a first test, Platte County’s defense responded well, limiting Grain Valley’s multi-pronged rushing attack to just 130 yards — the majority coming after halftime with the result no longer in doubt. The Pirates also limited the passing game to four completions totaling just 6 yards, while recording five sacks — two for junior linebacker Devin Lumm and 1 1/2 apiece for senior defensive end Cale Buntz and senior linebacker KJ Stallings.

Platte County’s 30 points allowed in two games so far this season doesn’t include any against the starting unit, even with sophomore safety Nolan Sipes (three tackles) making a first career start with junior Maverick Troncin (ankle) out with and injury and Lumm (eight tackles, one for loss) earning more playing time in the linebacker rotation after a standout opening week on special teams in his first action since an injury-riddled sophomore season. The Pirates did not record a turnover but essentially dominated outside of allowing two big plays on special teams.

Grain Valley ran 40 times, including the five sacks, with 17 of those plays not reaching the line of scrimmage.

“We all played physical; we all played fast,” said Stallings, a first-year starter who posted a career-high seven tackles with a team-high three for loss. “We’ve just got to keep building, improving every week — get better.

“We take it personal,” Stallings added. “Everybody says we’ve got 10 new starters on defense, but (we’re) just coming out to play the best for us, and we’re going to show them what we are.”

Grain Valley gained two of just eight total first downs on the game’s opening possession with Buntz (four tackles, one for loss), the lone returning starter and a Division I commit to South Dakota State, recording a third-down sack to force a punt. The Eagles pinned the ball deep with an effective punt and then immediately forced a third and long.

After drawing an offsides penalty with a hard count, Marriott scrambled for 30 yards on a third and six and then hit Platte County senior wide receiver Tres Baskerville for 25. Marriott then found senior wide receiver Braiden Stevens behind the defense two plays later for a 30-yard touchdown to cap a 92-yard drive filled with chunk plays.

After a three-and-out, Marriott finished a 65-yard march with an 8-yard scramble to his left with no defenders in sight, and he jumped in the air going across the goal line and finger-rolled the ball into the air, giving Platte County a quick 14-0 lead and probably fortunate to not draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“Coming into the game, we know it’s going to be a tough game. Grain Valley is always tough, bring a lot of heat,” Hall said. “But our tempo (made the difference). Going into this, we knew what we could do so we hit them with tempo, and just sitting in spots and getting (the ball) to receivers and tight ends.”

Then the crazy sequences started.

Grain Valley junior Terell King returned the next kickoff for a 91-yard touchdown to halve the lead, only for Christopher to go back the other way 99 yards on the ensuing kickoff to push the advantage back to 21-7 with 55 seconds left in the first quarter. Next came the injury to Fadler, who ended up requiring extended medical attention that led to an on-field delay of nearly 45 minutes before he left on a stretcher.

Platte County’s players regrouped, and the defense forced back-to-back three-and-outs around a lost fumble for Gisler, who finished with 86 yards on 11 carries. Marriott continued to spread the ball around on the Pirates’ fourth offensive drive, completing passes to Stevens and Hall before finding Christopher behind the defense for a 40-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 28-7 with 8:07 left in a suddenly extended first half.

“That sucks, any player getting hurt, but Grant’s a tough one,” Hall said. “But I think that fired up the team, showed that we loved him. We did that for him.”

Grain Valley did cross midfield on the next drive, only for Lumm to record a sack on fourth down to return possession to Marriott and the potent offense. Gisler capped that drive with a 34-yard sprint into the open field, making sophomore safety Dalton Burch miss a tackle before exuberantly reaching the end zone. A missed extra point seemed innocuous at the time but took on additional meaning later in the quarter after the Pirates drove 91 yards for a touchdown in a 2-minute drill.

Marriott scrambled for 28 and then hit senior tight end Jack Utz for 43 yards with a shoestring tackle preventing a touchdown. Hall caught a 12-yard pass before Gisler impressively hauled in an over-the-shoulder reception — his only one of the game — to set up first and goal for Platte County at the 2 with 17 seconds left before halftime. On the next snap, Hall created separation from Grain Valley junior cornerback Peyton Arndorfer and went high to haul in the first of his two touchdown catches.

“I knew the ball was coming my way, got as much separation as I could with the corner, you know,” said Hall, who had previous career-highs of three catches (2023 vs. Smithville) and 41 yards (2023 vs. Oak Park). “Me being tall, I’ll go up and get it.”

After a failed two-point conversion, Platte County led 40-7 with just 12 seconds left in the second quarter and wouldn’t have the running clock in effect to start the second half but would receive the kickoff. Instead, a pooched kickoff landed in the hands of junior running back Sjoeren Aumua, who totaled a team-high 104 yards on 14 carries, returned the kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown as time expired to trim the halftime deficit to 40-14.

“It puts us in a spot where we would be in a good spot coming out of halftime and you give up a special teams score. It’s just a killer,” Bill Utz said. “It was really good for us to get into the 2-minute drill and see how it went, and obviously, it went really well. You feel good, leave 12 seconds, and you can’t close it out. That’s just something we have to get better at.”

Grain Valley then earned a chance to possibly create some intrigue with the defending Class 5 state champions after forcing a third and seven to start the third quarter. However, Marriott found Stevens behind the defense for a 45-yard completion, and Gisler capped an 81-yard touchdown drive with a 5-yard plunge.

Staked to a 47-14 lead but still needing points to invoke the running clock, Platte County’s defense then benefitted from junior cornerback Jack Johnson’s hustle play after he chased Aumua down from behind on a 50-yard run down to the Pirates’ 16. The Eagles eventually settled for a field goal try but saw the 38-yard attempt go wide.

Platte County junior Sterling Wilson, a first-year starter, ended up 5-for-6 on extra points and missed a 30-yard try just wide right on the next drive.

However, time started to run out on Grain Valley, which gambled on a fourth down deep in its own territory. Platte County senior defensive end JoJo Wolo made a stop for a loss of 5 yards on fourth and 3, and three plays later, Marriott zipped a pass over the middle to Hall for a 17-yard touchdown and a commanding 54-14 lead with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.

Marriott was finished at that point with completions spread out to six receivers, six going to Stevens for a team-high 122 yards, while Baskerville added two for 52 yards. Hall ended up the biggest beneficiary in another breakout game for a tight end, a week after Jack Utz caught a pair of touchdowns before being held to just the one against Grain Valley.

“Like Jack said (last week), all of us eat,” Hall said. “Throw to receivers, throw to tight ends, regardless, we’re going to do what we do, and it felt good.”

Christopher also scored on his only catch in addition to Gisler’s timely catch on an improvisational play from Marriott.

According to available records, Marriott’s 379 yards passing were the fourth most in a single game for a Platte County quarterback behind Tanner Clarkson’s 437 in 2017 against Kearney, Spencer Stewart’s 395 in 2018 against Grain Valley and Justin Mitchell’s 386 in 2016 against Kearney.

Marriott also ended up with a team-high 124 yards on just seven attempts, mostly well-timed scrambles for big gains.

Platte County’s offensive line remained consistent with senior returning starters Quinn Lightle (tackle) and Michael Poncavage (guard) on the left side while senior Lucas Dillingham (center) and juniors Reece Moppin (right guard) and Cooper Koenigsfeld (right tackle) settled in against a challenging three-man front from Grain Valley. In the fourth quarter, the Pirates also gave carries to sophomore running backs Caleb Hill (two attempts, 10 yards) and Brady McDaniel (seven attempts, 41 yards), while senior Zach Burch (two attempts, 4 yards) continued to serve as the primary backup to Gisler, a third-year starter who split the majority of time last year with Dayton Doll in an effective one-two punch.

Grain Valley did close the gap on the safety and ensuing touchdown, a 3-yard run for sophomore running back Dawson Head, but Platte County ended up with a comfortable win over a team that continued to receive votes in this week’s Class 5 poll while remaining just outside a three-way tie for 10th. The Pirates have now won 16 straight dating to last year’s undefeated title season — now just one away from tying the second-longest streak in program history (17 from 1961-62) but still well back of the record (52 from 2000-2003).

Platte County’s new-look defense survived a first ground-based test with the linebacking corps of junior Carlos Baskerville (game-high 13 tackles, two for loss), Stallings and Lumm racking up more stats a week after the starting defensive line of Buntz, junior end Brody Hawk (four tackles, one for loss) and senior Cole Johnson (one tackle for loss) and junior Kyler Parker (four tackles (one for loss) on the inside were the dominant unit.

“I love our D-line. I mean our D-line makes it so easy,” Stallings said. “Easy to read gaps, easy to fill, so I can credit my work to them, credit my success — just thankful for them.”

Outside of Sipes starting in place of Troncin, Platte County’s defensive backfield looked similar but with senior Mogie Walkingstick (six tackles) and junior Matt Cisco (four tackles) at the other two safety spots and Jack Johnson (three tackles) and junior Jordan Moore (one tackle) at cornerback seeing a larger percentage of snaps. Adeboye Akande (one tackle) also rotated in at cornerback for the Pirates, while sophomore Boston Wasserman (two tackles) and junior Hank Fowler (one tackle) also contributed at linebacker and senior Cooper Hammontree made another notable tackle for loss as a rotational defensive tackle.

Next up, Platte County faces another run-oriented, physical attack from Fort Osage (1-1), which bounced back from a Week 1 loss to Class 4 No. 1-ranked Kearney to down Belton 35-0. A year ago, the Indians played the eventual Class 5 state champions closer than anyone in a 28-13 loss that saw Gisler injured early. The final margin also ended up at 15 after the Pirates’ backups allowed a touchdown on the game’s final play.

Already 2-0 in Suburban Conference White Division play, Platte County can go a long way toward securing a second straight league title with a win Friday at home in the middle game of what appears to be the toughest three-game stretch of the regular season. The Pirates travel to Topeka, Kansas, in Week 4 to play Washburn Rural (1-0), currently receiving votes in the KPreps Class 6A Top 5 poll.

“Week by week, we focus on getting better for later in the season,” Hall said. “We know what we can do.”