Platte County belts Belton to close out regular season on 4-game win streak

Brandon Reynolds did not receive much notice, but in reality, he spent years preparing for this moment.

Due to a teammate’s fluke injury during pregame, the Platte County senior earned a first career start at cornerback in a tidy 49-0 victory over Belton on Friday night at Pirate Stadium. Reynolds made four tackles in what ended up a second straight shutout for Platte County’s defense, which has not allowed a touchdown since the final minute of a Week 5 loss to Grain Valley.

Platte County (7-2) remained at No. 5 in the most recent Class 5 Missouri Media poll and closed out the regular season in dominant fashion after honoring 26 players on senior night. That included Reynolds, a former backup quarterback who switched to defense in the offseason in an effort to maximize playing time.

“Just the next-man-up mentality,” said Reynolds, who made four tackles against Belton (4-5) while starting opposite standout senior cornerback Jordan Moore (two tackles). “An unfortunate injury that happened in the pregame. You just have to be ready — all the preparation over the weeks, preparation in practice, pregame. You’ve just got to be ready when your name is called.”

For the first time since a shutout win over Raytown that started the current four-game winning streak, Platte County didn’t have a defensive touchdown, and the only turnover — a fumble recovery for senior defensive end Brody Hawk (five tackles) — came late in the second half with a running clock in effect.

Platte County scored touchdown on all six offensive drives in the first half with sophomore quarterback Kade Fowler running for the first and throwing two more to senior wide receiver Noah Omoike (61 yards) and sophomore wide receiver Owen Yates (29 yards). Three other players added rushing scores with junior running back Caleb Hill’s 5-yard burst into the end zone late in the second quarter giving him at least one in all nine regular season games.

Hill went over 100 yards on the ground for a second straight game and fourth time overall, putting him at 894 going into this week’s bye.

However, Platte County’s defense remained the dominant force even with Belton utilizing a vanilla game plan and not committing turnovers.

Late in the first quarter, Belton sophomore quarterback Carson Mayo scrambled for a first down to keep a drive alive. This marked the first offensive first down Platte County allowed since late in a 24-3 win over Fort Osage two weeks earlier. The Indians’ field goal in that game accounts for the only points surrendered during the active winning streak that extends into a Class 5 District 8 semifinal against either Winnetonka (4-5) or Lincoln Prep (3-6) on the first Friday in November.

Platte County sacked Mayo three times with junior defensive end Greyson Reik (three tackles, two for loss) and sophomore reserve defensive end Kyle McGee finishing with one apiece, while Hawk and senior linebacker Hank Fowler (six tackles, one for loss) split another.

“This was exactly what we ask of this group, and that’s to just go out and play the game that’s in front of them,” Platte County first-year head coach Derek Yost said. “I thought we came out and executed in every way we wanted the game to play out in all three phases. This was one of those games that we look at and say we got better here.”

Really, Platte County’s lone bobble came on the opening kickoff, a literal misplay that led to a loose ball.

Belton knocked the ball toward the goal line, but Platte County senior safety Jack Johnson (career-high 10 tackles, one for loss) tracked back and recovered at the 10. Platte County then went 90 yards in just over 3 minutes with Kade Fowler covering the final 36 with a sprint up the middle to account for the majority of his 55 rushing yards on just four attempts.

Platte County quickly forced a three-and-out, and just four plays later, Platte County junior running back Brady McDaniel broke off a 54-yard touchdown around left end to extend the lead to 14-0 with 4 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first quarter. He finished with 68 yards rushing on five carries.

“Jack had a great hustle play and picked up our guys and made sure we were good,” Yost said. “Then the offense responds with a 90-yard drive, and that’s tough to do at any level of football. We flushed that first play and went 5 to 6 seconds at a time and did that for 90 yards.”

Belton’s next drive again lasted just three plays.

Platte County senior defensive tackle Kyler Parker (five tackles, two for loss) belted a Belton sophomore running back Titus Delgado out of bounds with a big hit on second down, and senior safety Matt Cisco (two tackles, one or loss) rocked a receiver over the middle for a pass breakup on the next snap that forced a punt. Kade Fowler followed with a long throw down the home sideline to Omoike for his lone catch.

“I remain impressed with Kade’s composure,” Yost said. “I thought in every aspect he was able to get outside the pocket and keep his eyes downfield but he’s also not afraid to take a shot throwing from the pocket. Continues to impress me with the way he goes about his business.”

Platte County’s next two drives ended with touchdown runs from senior running back Devin Smith, who scored from 32 yards out and finished with 59 total on nine carries, and Hill. The run game dominated for a second straight week against an overmatched opponent with the current combination of offensive line starters again includin seniors Reece Moppin at center with junior Miller Bigus (shoulder) still out. The left side remains seniors Cooper Koenigsfeld (tackle) and James Moiyallah (guard), who missed the win over Fort Osage, with juniors Gabe Mitchell (guard) and Max Shuey (tackle).

In addition, Platte County senior Sayer Reik continued to rotate in at guard in a unit tested for depth due to multiple injuries.

Kade Fowler finished 6-for-10 with just 110 yards with completions spread to five receivers — one each for Omoike, junior tight end Hank Marriott (3 yards), sophomore wide receiver Kyle Thrasher (4 yards) and freshman tight end Braxton Seifert (10 yards).

Platte County sophomore wide receiver Owen Yates led the way with two receptions, the second a 29-yarder on a scramble drill during a two-minute offense drive right before halftime. Kade Fowler ended up rolling left, and Yates slowly leaked back toward the goal line and hauled in a pass wide open for his third touchdown of the season.

“We had a cool opportunity with time expiring in the first half,” Yost said. “Defense gets a stop. Offense is able to run a two-minute drill pretty effectively — give our guys that experience and get another score on the board.”

Yates’ touchdown put Platte County up 42-0 and simplified the defense’s path to another shutout.

After Cisco’s violent pass breakup late in the first quarter, Belton rarely passed again and found little success running the ball with Parker and sophomore defensive tackle Phin McMain (four tackles) strong up the middle, and junior Sam Smith (three tackles, one for loss) rotating in with Greyson Reik at left defensive end. The lack of drop backs were even with junior cornerback Eric Dooley unavailable after a pregame warmup collision with a teammate left him with an injured ankle. He didn’t dress out and watched from the sideline on crutches while Reynolds took his spot with senior Andrew Parrish also out due to a recent surgery related to his ongoing battle with cancer.

Platte County senior linebackers Carlos Baskerville (nine tackles, one for loss), Maverick Troncin (six tackles) and Hank Fowler were beneficiaries of the consistent rushing attempts, as was senior safety Devin Lumm (seven tackles, two for loss) in nickel situations. Platte County freshman linebackers Rowdy Hawk (four tackles) and Brig Nelson (one tackle) saw time late, as well.

“Belton has some big physical backs that do some things well, and I was impressed with how we were able to take that run game away,” Yost said.

“Big game of momentum, a few big hits like that can really change a game,” said Reynolds, who serves as the holder on all kicks for senior Sterling Wilson (6-for-6 on extra points against Belton) in addition to special teams duty.

With the result in hand, Platte County junior backup quarterback Paxton Bennett saw extended time and completed one pass each to junior wide receiver Will Jackson (20 yards), junior tight end Lucas Garcia (4 yards) and sophomore wide receiver Grayson Smith (7 yards). Jackson’s went for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, marking the second straight week he and Bennett connected for a score.

The low-key win locked up a share of the Suburban Conference White Division title for Platte County, and now the new-look, two-time defending Class 5 state champions have a week to rest and even longer layoff before likely challenges.

Platte County dominated Winnetonka 56-7 in the opener while Lincoln Prep’s three wins were all against struggling programs. Fort Osage (4-5) owns the No. 2 seed but goes into the postseason with losses in two of the past three — one by three scores to Platte County after leading 3-0 at halftime and a 33-30 setback to Class 6 Park Hill South (3-6) in the regular season finale.

“What are the things we can control and concentrate on? What’s our commitment look like? Are we willing to come out and execute no matter the opponent? We have to put the opponent aside,” Yost said. “I think we’ve dialed into that and bought into that message.”