Platte County turns in complete performance in blowout of Belton

BELTON, Mo. — The version of Rocco Marriott present for Friday night’s Suburban Conference White Division clash of Pirates with Belton provides the optimism for the rest of the season.

Platte County’s sophomore quarterback answered some questions about field vision and accuracy in what ended up a 42-7 blowout victory at Southwick Stadium. He finished 11-for-22 and 201 yards with a career-high four touchdowns — three to senior wide receiver Dawsen Mizell and another to sophomore wide receiver Braiden Stevens for the game’s final points.

The scoring strikes were a strong mix. His connections with Mizell included a quick, short read over the middle, a deep ball over the top of the defense and a mid-range outbreaking route. Stevens benefitted from an athletic, free-lancing scramble and throw not all players at this level can make.

“Rocco’s doing a great job; he’s getting better every week,” Mizell said.

Perhaps most importantly, Platte County (5-2) put in the most complete performance in a month after back-to-back losses and a mixed-bag showing in the previous week’s 35-12 conference win at Raytown.

Belton (4-3) committed six turnovers, and Platte County’s defense limited senior running back Javon Minor to 43 yards on 18 carries. Platte County harassed Belton sophomore quarterback Cooper Shrum from start to finish with senior linebacker Seth Martin (three tackles plus one for loss), junior linebackers Cobe Pollard (seven tackles) and Darrell Smith (five tackles) and junior safety Montez Clemons (seven tackles) each recording a sack.

Shrum finished 12 for 22 for 183 yards thanks to long 50-50 completions but threw three interceptions.

Platte County senior cornerback Jordan Burnett (three tackles and a pass breakup) grabbed one — his third in the past two games — while senior cornerback Ayden Watts (two tackles) extended his streak of games with a pick to three, returning one 18 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 28-7. Platte County junior safety Taylor Stambersky’s first career interception and a strong return set up the touchdown pass from Marriott to Stevens, who totaled a team-high of four catches for 56 yards, that came just five snaps after Watts’ pick-six.

Stambersky also finished with a team-high eight tackles, a pass breakup and a forced fumble that junior linebacker Archie Wesley recovered, while junior defensive tackle Kameron Doyle (one tackle) fell on a late loose ball late in the fourth quarter that allowed for the backup offensive players to receive one series and all but run out the clock.

“I thought Belton played very well,” Utz said. “Their quarterback is very good; tailback is very good, and they made a lot of big catches. For our defense to hold them to seven, I’m good with that. That’s one things we’ve been preaching a lot is playing together as a team — in a sense that offense helps defense, defense helps special teams, sideline helps everybody.

“All four major parts playing together as one to get a big win, and that came together for us tonight.”

After trailing Raytown the majority of the previous week’s first half before pulling away late, Platte County never trailed, but the critical moment came late in the first half on Belton’s second turnover.

A false start penalty helped kill off a Platte County drive near midfield, but on the ensuing punt, the ball hit a Belton player and created a fumble. Martin alertly fell on the loose ball and gave Platte County possession at Belton’s 18 with just over a minute left in the second quarter.

Marriott immediately connected with Mizell, who posted team-highs of four catches for 121 yards, on two straight plays. The first went for a gain of 6, and the second came on a bullet over the middle that avoided a leaping Belton defender and found the wide receiver near the back of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown — his first of the season.

Platte County took a 14-0 lead with 24 seconds left before halftime and set the stage for a dominant second half.

“We felt pretty good,” Utz said. “Obviously only having the 14-point lead and kind of a crazy way to end the half makes you second-guess a little bit, but felt really comfortable with it. Didn’t need to make too many adjustments. It was just a matter of kind of playing until things all clicked.”

Belton took the opening kickoff of thee second half and immediately went three-and-out with Pollard recording his sack on third down.

However, Platte County faced a third-and-10 at the 20 when Marriott dropped back and found Mizell behind the defense for an 80-yard score. The ball traveled across midfield in the air and hit the receiver in stride for what turned into an easy catch-and-run.

Marriott has missed open receivers in similar situations throughout the season but showed the type of touch needed in this instance that can take Platte County’s offense to the next level.

“He hit some passes that he’s struggled with at times this season,” Utz said. “That just helps. That experience doesn’t come with age. Experience comes with playing the game. He’s getting there.”

Platte County did not take advantage of Wesley’s fumble recovery, which resulted after he ripped the ball away from multiple Belton players in a pile.

Belton’s lone score came late in the third quarter on the best offensive drive of the night. Shrum completed a 24-yard screen to Minor and then a deep ball for 36 yards to Mateo Ramirez, who outleaped Watts for a contested catch along the visitor’s sideline.

A combination of pass interference and personal foul penalties on the same play put Belton inside the 5, and senior reserve running back Kayson Novacek bulled in from 1 yard out to reduce the hosts’ deficit to 21-7 with 12 seconds left in the third quarter.

“Again, just self-inflicted,” Utz said of what allowed Belton to engineer the scoring drive.

Four plays later on a third-and-10, Marriott’s pass down the visitor’s sideline resulted in an interception on a strong play from Ramirez, who had the turnover in addition to four catches for 103 yards. However, Belton didn’t gain significant field position, and on the next play, Watts stepped in front of a pass and went untouched into the end zone from 18 yards out.

A senior transfer and member of a military family, Watts opened the offseason on offense but eventually moved to defense and has started multiple games after junior safety Caden McGhee suffered a season-ending knee injury in a Week 3 win over North Kansas City.

“I’ve just been getting in the flow of things; I’ve been ready,” Watts said. “I seen the quarterback, he just stared down the receiver there. The receiver ran his little stick route. I just broke on the ball, and I was in the end zone.”

Platte County led 28-7 at that point and then extended the advantage to 35-7 after Stambersky won a battle for the third interception of the night with Burnett also in position on the play.

Officials whistled Belton for a horse-collar tackle penalty on Stambersky’s return, and on the next play, Marriott showed off elite athletic ability. Flushed left, he eventually avoided pressure and started to roll back right before stopping and firing a pass across his body and all the way across the field to find Stevens near the goal line.

Stevens hauled in the pass and skipped into the end zone with 9:48 left in the fourth quarter.

“You don’t see that a lot,” Mizell said. “(Rocco’s) a great athlete; he’s just a great kid, great athlete, great football player, everything. I love the kid.”

Shrum drove Belton across midfield one more time, but a snap over his head that Clemons nearly grabbed for what could have been a fumble return for a touchdown and Platte County’s fourth sack ended the drive and led to a punt. Marriott hit sophomore wide receiver Tres Baskerville (three catches, 25 yards) for an 18-yard gain, and Platte County sophomore running back Adam Gisler broke off a 26-yard run to put the ball on the edge of the red zone.

Marriott then capped the scoring with a 23-yard pass to Mizell wide open at the goal line that gave him a career-best three touchdowns on the night.

“It felt great,” said Mizell, who entered the season as Platte County’s top returning pass catcher but missed the first three games due for disciplinary reasons. “It’s been kind of a slow start, and it just felt good to get a big win here and just do what we needed to do as an offense and as a team.”

Platte County went up 42-7 and put a running clock in effect for the final minutes, and Doyle’s second fumble recovery of the season offered an opportunity for junior running back Isaiah Seymour to rush three times for 2 yards, while junior reserve quarterback Brady Davis completed his only pass for 4 yards to junior tight end Owen Rawlings. The defense rotated in reserves for the final three plays, and sophomore linebacker Cole Johnson made three tackles, while junior linebacker Merrit Bigus recorded a tackle for loss.

“You’ve got to have confidence on all sides of the ball,” Utz said. “We can teach these guys; we can talk to them about the game. We can tell them they’re going to do this, but until they do it, it’s really hard for them to believe sometimes. For those kids that have adversity throughout the season, to come up with big plays, I’m really happy for them, and it’s only going to make us better the rest of the way.”

Despite the lopsided final score, Platte County’s lead sat at 7-0 until late in the first half.

The opening touchdown came on the game’s first drive, thanks to a big play from Marriott that provided half of his 52 yards rushing. A holding penalty led to a third-and-13 at Platte County’s own 36, and Marriott, who rushed 10 times, ended up scrambling left and eventually tip-toeing the sideline at the end of a 26-yard gain. He then hit Stevens for a 13-yard gain, and Gisler ran for 3 yards and then scored an 11-yard rush up the middle.

“I think (the scramble) gave (Rocco) some confidence to where he felt good,” Utz said. “I think he played more loose and comfortable than in recent weeks.”

Gisler remained a consistent threat, totaling 106 yards on just 13 carries. He topped 100 yards for a second straight week and fifth time overall since becoming the featured back midway through Week 1 when junior Dayton Doll went down with what ended up a season-ending shoulder injury.

The key to a rejuvenated rushing game continues to be a consistent offensive line, which has featured the same starting five all seven weeks. Although junior Riley Hixson (center) and senior Becker Grego (right guard) recently swapped spots, senior Muyonta Maxwell (left tackle) and Gage Fulk (right tackle) have bookended the group, while junior Drew Doll remains the starter at left guard.

However, Fulk tweaked an ankle sprain picked up early in the win over Raytown, and he sat out the majority of the win over Belton. That again allowed Platte County to heavily rotate in sophomore Quinn Lightle, a starter at tackle most of his freshman season who debuted in Week 5 in a loss to Oak Park. He continues to receive snaps at tackle and guard while working back from a preseason knee injury that kept him out the first four games.

“Obviously losing Quinn early for as many games as we did was at the time horrible,” Utz said. “But what it’s done is allowed the line that was there to gel and become a really solid piece for us. Now having Quinn and six players we can utilize, that’s huge for us. I like them a lot. They’re playing really well, and they had another good game.”

After scoring with 8:51 left in the first quarter, Platte County didn’t take advantage of Burnett’s interception that ended Belton’s first possession, and a drive inside the 10 in the second quarter ultimately resulted in a 40-yard field goal attempt after holding and false start penalty backed up the try. Jackson Goodale, a sophomore, remained perfect on the season with extra points but missed his only field goal attempt.

However, Platte County’s defense continued to adapt while playing without junior linebacker Trevor Hay (wrist), reserve senior defensive lineman Kevin Taylor (ankle) and McGhee. Stambersky again shifted out to safety in mostly five defensive back looks that also included sophomore safety Ty Christopher (four tackles). Platte County also committed more snaps to senior Tucker McDowell (four tackles) and junior Jordan Miller (three tackles plus two for loss), while Wesley, senior defensive tackle Markus Delfin and sophomore linebacker Cale Buntz provided depth.

Buntz in particular had received two recent starts, but Platte County didn’t load the box as much against Belton, able to stop the run with mostly smaller lineups. The defense endured a few shaky moments in the first half but carried the momentum of the fumble recovery on the punt late in the second quarter and didn’t waver in belief of being able to shut Belton down.

“We went into halftime with a lot of confidence, and we came out of halftime with a lot of confidence,” Watts said. “We’re just a big family. We know we’ve got each other; we’ve all got each other’s backs. We just had to settle down. We were good.”

Platte County has now won two straight but dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the most recent Class 5 District 8 standings behind Class 5 No. 2-ranked Grain Valley (6-1) and Fort Osage (4-3), which has now won three straight and benefits from having already played three Class 6 schools.

However, Platte County moved back up from No. 10 to No. 9 in the most recent Class 5 media rankings with a chance to make up a slim gap with Fort Osage this week. The Pirates host Class 6 Park Hill South (1-6), entering on a six-game losing streak. The Panthers’ lone win came Week 1 at Rock Bridge by a score of 13-10, but all six losses have come to Class 6 opponents with a combined record of 29-13. Of those six, only Staley (2-5) and Park Hill (3-4) have a losing record.

Interestingly, the combined record of Park Hill South’s first seven opponents is 34-15, while Platte County’s seven games this season came against teams with a 31-18. That includes wins over Class 4 No. 1-ranked Smithville (6-1) and Class 4 No. 4 Kearney (5-2) with Raytown (1-6) accounting for a third of those losses.