Platte County stumbles late in overtime loss to rival in season-opener

The end came so swiftly, Platte County’s players didn’t have time to immediately process a disappointing result.

Up a touchdown after the opening possession of the first overtime, Kearney benefitted from applying the pressure to an inexperienced team in a season-opening rivalry matchup. The Bulldogs recorded a sack on the first play, and Platte County first-year starting senior quarterback Dylan Zimmerman’s second-down pass fluttered through the night sky inside a packed Pirate Stadium and ended up the game-sealing interception in a 21-14 loss Friday night.

Kearney (1-0) celebrated with the Highway 92 Showdown rivalry traveling trophy street sign, ending a three-year skid in the series after senior Landon Goepfrich’s game-ending turnover.

“There’s a lot of learning, a lot of learning, and I think a lot of it is going to take place,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “I think that’s all you can look at it as learning. But we went to overtime with a lot of these kids under the lights for the first time. You always want to be on the other side of it, but we weren’t.”

More importantly, Platte County started a second straight season at 0-1 with a gauntlet of a schedule awaiting in the early weeks, continuing with a rivalry road trip next week to Smithville (1-0) — the defending Class 4 state champions. The loss overshadowed an otherwise solid defensive effort from a youthful unit plugging and playing a large group of new contributors while playing without junior defensive end Tucker McDowell (shoulder) but receiving a team-high 12 tackles from senior safety Cameron Wolfe, who starred just days after moving back to his old position from linebacker and came up with an interception he returned to the Kearney 1-yard line right before halftime that almost unfathomably led to no points at a critical juncture.

Platte County’s offense delivered mixed results with senior running back Nate Walls totaling just 36 yards on 18 carries behind a rebuilt offensive line but Zimmerman finishing 18-for-31 for 212 yards with a touchdown and two scores. Pirates senior wide receiver Carter Salzman also turned in the best statistical game of his career with seven catches for 127 yards and a 64-yard score that put the Pirates up 7-0 in the first half.

The teams were almost dead even in yards, but Kearney took advantage of a pair of scoring drives that featured senior 250-pound senior tight end Zach Grace taking direct snaps in a heavy formation. He scored on short runs midway through the fourth quarter and on the first possession of overtime on short runs to tie it and win it for the Bulldogs, despite having just 296 yards of offense and committing a pair of turnovers.

“There were so many good things that you’re looking at that when it all melds together we’ll be fine,” Bill Utz said. “We’ve been spoiled for several years where we haven’t had to let that process play out as much or our inexperience would be brought in slowly. We’re just not in that case right now.”

Platte County ended up losing a pair of 7-0 leads, then surviving a bizarre late-game scenario that nearly delivered the most unlikely of finishes.

After Grace’s first touchdown run from a yard out tied the score with 7 minutes, 11 seconds left in regulation, the teams exchanged three and outs, but a 51-yard punt from Zimmerman left Kearney with a long field and the worst of the field position battle. Platte County took over near midfield and completions to Salzman, freshman wide receiver Tres Baskerville (two catches, 25 yards in his debut) and Walls around an untimely holding penalty left the Pirates with a second and 3 at the Bulldogs’ 23.

Walls then ran for no gain, and Kearney declined a holding penalty on a run for minus-4 yards from Zimmerman, setting up a 44-yard field goal try for senior Aaron Cordova in his varsity debut. His steps looked rushed on the try, and the attempt sailed well wide left with 1:49 left in regulation.

“I trust his leg,” Utz said. “To put him in that spot, his first kick back, and for the win, hey, it’s fine. The distance was there. We’ll get the other stuff.”

The drama wasn’t over yet.

There was still time for each team to punt, even after Zimmerman completed an 8-yard pass to junior wide receiver Dawsen Mizell (three catches, 16 yards in his first start) on Platte County’s final possession of regulation. The play set up a third and 2 and an incompletion with 11 seconds left forced a punt, which Kearney fair caught at its own 36, but a personal foul penalty moved the ball to the Pirates’ 48.

After a lengthy discussion, Kearney opted to utilize a rarely seen option to attempt a free kick from that spot, meaning another player could hold the ball at the 48 and let senior kicker Grant Jacobsen attempt to make a field goal without a defense. The kick ultimately sailed extremely far left and into the short part of the end zone for a touchback.

Had it been short of the end zone, Platte County had a return team in and could have returned the kick for a potential game-winning score, as well.

“I’ve never seen it,” Utz said. “I wondered. That would’ve been an unbelievable kick. I mean that would’ve been an unbelievable kick, but with no pressure at all on him, it was a possibility. He was just barely across the 50, and he wasn’t kicking it out of the back of the end zone (on kickoffs) so the odds were in our favor. But I’ve never seen it before so I can cross that off my list.”

In overtime, Platte County’s spry and rebuilt defense cracked again.

Kearney gained an initial first down and immediately went back to Grace in the heavy wildcat formation. He ran twice for 2 yards apiece and then finally bounced off tackle on the third run for a 6-yard touchdown run around end. The Pirates had yielded less than 275 yards of offense in regulation despite being without McDowell and not recording a sack.

Platte County’s deep defensive line rotation featured four tackles for junior tackle/end Kohry Woessner and three apiece for senior Tennesseee-commit Chandavian Bradley at defensive end, senior defensive tackle/end Blake Rueckert, senior defensive tackle Mar’Ques Brown plus significant playing time for sophomore defensive tackle Kameron Doyle (one QB pressure). The linebacker rotation featured sophomore Darrell Smith (10 tackles, 1 for loss), senior Cameron Dean (three tackles and a fumble recovery) and sophomore Archie Wesley (two tackles) while the Pirates look to replace the long-term presence of graduated standouts Blaine Keuhn and Trevor Scott.

Smith’s tackle for loss came at key juncture late in the game, sniffing out a screen on a Kearney third-down play.

With Wolfe back at safety, Platte County paired him with senior Andy McClure (11 tackles, 1 for loss, two forced fumbles) while senior Garrett Smith-Dean (six tackles) ultimately ended up starting at one cornerback spot after coaches nixed a move over to safety for now. The other two starters in the 4-2-5 defense were sophomore free safety Taylor Stambersky (three tackles) and sophomore cornerback Caden McGhee (one tackle) while he ended up out late due to cramps allowing junior cornerback Jorden Burnett (three tackles) to also receive an extended look.

“There’s some things they did that we had no idea they were doing so a lot of that was on the fly,” Utz said. “There were a few times when we couldn’t get a stop, but at the same time, there was several where we did. You’ve got to be happy about that, also.”

Each of Platte County’s first two drives ended in Kearney territory, the first with a failed fourth and short and the second with a punt from the 48. The Pirates were spreading the ball around early with senior wide receiver Dom Spears making both of his catches for 10 yards on the game’s opening possession and Walls (two catches, 21 yards) and sophomore Dayton Doll (8 yards rushing on four carries and two catches for 13 yards) splitting reps at running back.

Zimmerman also managed 31 yards rushing on timely scrambles to aid a rushing offense limited to 80 yards on 32 attempts (2.5 yards per carry).

Platte County entered the game with only one returning full-time starter on the offensive line in junior left tackle Muyonta Maxwell, moved from the right side. The Pirates also featured senior Braden Parker at center and senior Sage Lutz at right tackle after both played a lot a year ago. However, junior Gage Fulk (right guard) and senior Tyler Burch (left guard) ultimately made their debuts up front, and senior Brody Gates worked in behind Fulk.

“Our offensive line looked OK at times when I wasn’t sure what we had,” Utz said. “They kind of put a few things together, but obviously, (Kearney’s) going to do things to counter and are going to try to find those weaknesses that we have also. They found a few.”

With the defense limiting Kearney’s offense, Platte County finally made the breakthrough on the first possession of the second quarter thanks to a busted coverage. Salzman leaked down the right side into open space, and Zimmerman hit him in stride. Salzman did the rest, going 66 yards down the visiting sideline for the game’s first points and putting the Pirates up 7-0 with 8:43 left before halftime.

Kearney responded with a drive into Platte County territory, only for junior quarterback Casey Rooney to commit a costly mistake. On a third and six, he panicked in the pocket and essentially threw the ball to the ground with McClure bearing down on him. Dean alertly scooped it up at the 40.

Zimmerman immediately answered with completions of 9 yards to Salzman and 5 yards to Doll around a run for negative yards for an initial first down. The quarterback’s scramble around left end then put Platte County in scoring position, but a run for negative yards and untimely penalty led to a third and 13.

Kearney senior Luke Noland then picked off Zimmerman to seemingly put the end of half in sight with just a 7-0 deficit for the Bulldogs.

Instead, Rooney, who finished 14-for-25 for 119 yards, threw an interception on the next play. Wolfe stepped in front of the pass at the 38 and weaved his way toward the home sideline before being tripped up at the 1-yard line with 1:38 to go before halftime. However, Platte County immediately received a delay of game penalty that backed the Pirates up to the 6, and Zimmerman’s run for 5 plus two runs for no gain from Walls left Utz with a decision.

After a timeout with 3 seconds on the clock, Utz bypassed a field goal from a tight angle, and Zimmerman attempted a sprint-out pass to his left. Kearney read the play and covered freshman tight end Jack Utz, who made his debut along with Baskerville and freshman wide receiver Ty Christopher) and pulled the quarterback down at the 1 on the final play of the half.

Instead of going into the locker room up two scores, Platte County ended up with the 7-0 lead. The new 25-second play clock caused some confusion and returning the offense to the field with a play off of the quick back-to-back turnovers, but Utz admitted afterward that taking a timeout there could have helped avoid the penalty.

“We kick that in and get points out of that in any way shape or form and this (loss) may not even be the case,” Bill Utz said. “It’s those kind of things we’ve got to fix, and that comes with playing and finding out what we do and what our strengths are. We should have done a better job on getting the play in. We were pressed on time.

“I don’t think Zimmerman saw it, and so I didn’t get a timeout so I’ll take credit on that (mistake), but we still had chances to get it in (the end zone).”

Coming up with no points off of the turnovers hurt when Rooney hit junior wide receiver Manny Linthacum for a 51-yard touchdown on the eighth play of the second half. It came one snap after he fell on his own fumble to set up a third and 10 near midfield. Linthacum beat McGhee in coverage and then slithered his way past an attempted tackle and into the end zone to knot the score at 7-7.

Platte County needed two possession to answer on a short field after a 19-yard punt. The big play came on an 8-yard toe-tap reception from Doll on a fourth and 2 at the 31 to keep the drive alive and with Bill Utz not opting for a long field goal with Cordova nursing a minor quad injury. A 9-yard run from Walls and 11-yard completion to Salzman set up a goal-to-go situation, and Doll plowed into the end zone on a tough 3-yard run to restore a seven-point lead for the Pirates at 14-7.

“The catch he caught on the sideline, I had a great view,” Bill Utz said. “He wasn’t inbounds by very much, got them both in — a great athletic play — and then sheer determination to get the score.”

A 15-yard penalty on the extra-point attempt was enforced on the kickoff, and Linthacum then mishandled Cordova’s well-placed corner kickoff. The ball went out of bounds at Kearney’s own 7 where the ensuing drive started. His 13-yard run on a reverse play to convert a third-and-9 play salvaged the drive, and the Bulldogs ended up going all 93 yards on 16 plays spanning more than 6 minutes between the third and fourth quarters for the tying score that set up the closing dramatics.

Platte County couldn’t overcome the inconsistent running game, 10 penalties for 90 yards and just 4-of-16 conversions on third downs compared to 10 of 20 for Kearney.

“The effort for the majority of it was there,” Bill Utz said. “As long as you have the effort, you can learn. That’s just playing the game. As you get older, as you get more experience, the game gets slower, and you can control the game. These young kids, they’re just making sure they’re not making mistakes. We’re just not quite there yet.”

A year ago, Platte County’s experienced defense wilted in the season-opener against Park Hill South with an offense that struggled to move the ball. The Pirates recovered from that to win the next two and finished 9-3.

This time around, the task will be different.

Platte County opens the season with two games against Class 4 opponents that were previously conference rivals before this year’s realignment of the Suburban Conference. The Pirates remain in Class 5 for a third straight year and now moved into the White Division with Belton, Grain Valley, Raytown and William Chrisman but kept Kearney and Smithville on the schedule.

Smithville won last year’s meeting with Platte County 20-10 on the way to an undefeated season. The Warriors opened this season with a 28-12 victory over Class 5 Raytown.

Platte County knows the stakes and back-to-back losses to smaller schools — no matter how quality the teams — will dig a hole in the standings for Class 5 District 8, which also includes North Kansas City, Oak Park, St. Joseph Central, William Chrisman and defending champion and state semifinalist Fort Osage. Even worse, North Kansas City (1-0) looms for the Pirates in Week 3.

“It’s Week 2; it’s Week 3; it’s Week 4,” Bill Utz said. “It’s every week is a very, very quality opponent. We don’t have much time to turnaround.”