A second straight undefeated state championship garnered 10 total selections for Platte County on the Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 5 all-state teams, released earlier this month. The Pirates finished 14-0 and own the state’s longest winning streak at 28 going into next season.
Platte County senior quarterback Rocco Marriott, wide receiver Braiden Stevens, tight end Jack Utz, offensive tackle Quinn Lightle and defensive linemen Cale Buntz and Cole Johnson plus junior linebacker Carlos Baskerville all made the first team, while senior wide receiver Tres Baskerville and running back Adam Gisler moved up to second team. Michael Poncavage, a senior offensive guard, ended up the Pirates’ lone third-team pick.
The coaches named Marriott — signed to continue his career at UCF in the Big 12 — the Class 5 offensive player of the year for a second straight season, and he repeated as a first-team honoree along with Lightle and Utz. Stevens, Gisler and Tres Baskerville also finished their careers as two-time picks for Platte County, while Bill Utz has won coach of the year honors in 2024 and 2025.
Now with the two best statistical seasons for a quarterback in program history, Marriott set career-highs with 213 completions for 3,707 yards passing and 54 touchdowns while completely rewriting Platte County’s school records. He completed 72.4% of 294 attempts and threw only six interceptions, while adding his single-season best of 875 yards rushing and another 14 scores on the ground.
The passing yards and touchdowns were both school records for a season as were Marriott’s 4,588 yards of total offense — a mark that unofficially ranks as the sixth-most in state history for an 11-man player. He previously set the passing touchdowns and total offense marks as a junior, while he moved past Tanner Clarkson’s mark of 3,382 yards from 2017 in his only season as a starter.
Marriott’s 54 passing touchdowns were tied for fourth and the 3,707 passing yards seventh, also according to available numbers.
A third-year starter and four-year contributor at quarterback, Marriott finishes his career 525 of 879 passing for 8,922 yards with 118 touchdowns. He unofficially became just the eighth 11-man player in Missouri history with at least 100 passing touchdowns and finishes ranked fifth on that list, while just missing becoming the fifth to throw for 9,000 yards, leaving him at No. 6 all-time with numbers likely limited by the knee injury he suffered while leading Platte County to a memorable 34-28 overtime victory against Carthage in the Class 5 Show-Me Bowl.
Marriott’s 11,006 career yards of total offense, which includes 6 from the cumulative gain on two pass completions to himself this season, unofficially ranks fifth for 11-man players and includes 2,078 yards rushing (ninth most in school history). He totaled 45 touchdowns on the ground with his 270 points tying him for sixth on the Pirates’ all-time list for scoring with Andy Warner (1999-2000).
Stevens turned in the best season for a receiver in Platte County history, setting single-season records for yards (1,200) and touchdowns (18) on 66 catches. He caught at least one touchdown pass from Marriott in 22 of the last 28 games with his 2025 total breaking a mark of 16 previously jointly held between Jim Myers (1968) and Devin Richardson (2017).
A Division I signee to the University of Minnesota, Stevens also finished as Platte County’s career leader in both receiving yards (2,539) and touchdowns (37). The yardage total broke Dylan Gilbert’s mark of 2,442 from 2016-18, while Gilbert and Aliek Reed (2012-14) previously held the touchdown mark at 27 each.
Jack Utz set career-highs across the board with 21 catches for 372 yards and seven touchdowns, including a pair in a season-opening win over William Chrisman. A signee to the University of Kansas, he finishes a four-year career with 50 catches for 810 yards and 11 total scores, which ties for 21st in program history for touchdown receptions.
Lightle and Poncavage played a key part in the offense’s success.
A starter on the line for the majority of four seasons, Lightle earned his all-state honors as Platte County’s left tackle, and the Pirates averaged more than 50 points per game in both 2024 and 2025. Poncavage earned a starting spot at left guard midway through his junior season and only missed a handful of games due to injury in the time since.
This past season, Platte County gained more than 6,400 yards of offense — just under 3,800 passing and over 2,600 rushing — with left side of the offensive line a big reason.
Gisler became the starting running back as a sophomore after a season-ending shoulder injury to Dayton Doll in the season opener. The pair split time in 2024 before Gisler again became the featured rusher as a senior. He went from a third-team all-state pick as a junior to second team this fall.
Missing the majority of three games in each of the last two seasons, Gisler became just the fifth player in Platte County history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career. He totaled 3,296 yards on the ground and finished behind only Zach Sherman (1,150 carries for 7,727 yards from 1998-2001) and Mike McNair (658 carries for 3,516 yards from 2013-16).
Gisler put up 1,206 yards on just 129 carries this season and a career-high 22 total touchdowns. This included a state championship game record 98-yard rushing score in the against Carthage plus the game-winning touchdown reception. He owns the ninth and 10th-best season in school history for rushing yards with his best total of 1,254 coming his sophomore season on 217 attempts.
With 302 career points between 50 touchdowns and a two-point conversion, Gisler finishes third in school history for scoring. This included capping his career with eight total touchdowns in the state semifinal win over Kirkwood and the Show-Me Bowl win over Carthage.
Gisler, signed to Division II Northwest Missouri State, also caught 27 passes for 430 yards in his career, giving him 3,726 yards of total offense overall — ninth in Platte County history for that category.
Like Gisler, Tres Baskerville went from third team all-state as a junior to second team as a senior while finishing off one of the most productive careers for a wide receiver in Platte County history. He finished second behind Stevens for the Pirates in both catches (47) and yards (816) this season while catching eight touchdown passes.
While Stevens ranks third all-time for receptions in school history, Tres Baskerville finishes second with 138 while his yardage mark of 2,318 ends up third. He caught at least 40 passes in each of the past three seasons, and his 1,043 yards as a junior is the sixth most in a single-season in school history.
Tres Baskerville’s 25th receiving touchdown (fifth in program history) gave Platte County the lead in the second half against Carthage at a key moment with Marriott’s mobility limited due to a knee injury suffered in the first quarter.
Despite replacing 10 of 11 starters, Platte County’s defense garnered three first-team picks this season. The Pirates’ defense ended up tagged with more than 21 points just twice in the first 10 games — a 60-28 win over Washburn Rural and a 54-23 win over Grain Valley when the Eagles returned a pair of kickoffs for for touchdowns. The Pirates had a running clock at some point in nine of those.
The lone returning starter, Buntz entered the lineup as a more wiry sophomore at defensive end and developed into a Division I talent, eventually signing with South Dakota State. He finished this season with a team-high 9 1/2 sacks, giving him 15 for his career.
Buntz accumulated 54 tackles, including 11 1/2 for a loss, as a senior to go with three pass breakups and one fumble forced and one recovered. He also had an interception as a junior and finishes his career with over 100 total tackles.
A rotational piece as a junior who didn’t start but still made the All-Suburban Conference White Division team by the end of the season, Johnson made 66 total tackles with a staggering team-high 28 for loss. He also had two sacks, an interception, forced fumble and a blocked punt that he picked up and returned for his second career touchdown.
The majority of Johnson’s production came the past two seasons, but his career numbers include 119 tackles (42 for loss), four sacks, four fumbles recovered, two fumbles forced and two blocked kicks. He recovered a fumble in the end zone for his first career touchdown as a junior.
A first-year full-time starter, Carlos Baskerville led Platte County with 94 total tackles (10 for loss), 3 1/2 sacks, a forced fumble that he picked up and returned for a touchdown and an interception that he returned for another score. Injuries pushed him into a starting role for part of his sophomore year before becoming a key piece of a defense that shifted from a base 4-2-5 to a more traditional 4-3 look late in this season.
One of only two repeat state champions this season, Platte County survived easily the most difficult stretch of the current run with comeback wins over Rockhurst in the Class 5 District 8 championship game (29-22) and Grain Valley in the state quarterfinals (46-33) before looking dominant in a 64-35 victory against Kirkwood after a long road trip to St. Louis for the state semifinal. The Pirates’ 10 all-state selections notably didn’t include senior tight end Brooks Hall (31 catches, 427 yards, seven touchdowns) and senior wide receiver Ty Christopher (35 catches, 748 yards, 12 touchdowns).
Another signee with UCF, Hall likely missed out with the coaches opting to add another athlete to the third team rather than pick a third tight end. Christopher ranked second for Platte County in receiving touchdowns but ended up the odd player out in a high-octane three-man rotation of wide receivers.
Nine of Platte County’s 25 seniors made the all-state teams with the entire contingent playing a role in 40 wins over the past three seasons. The only longer run of dominance for the Pirates came while winning 52 consecutive games — the second-longest in state history — from 2000 to 2003 while claiming three straight unbeaten state titles in Class 3A/3 (2000, 2001, 2002).
Platte County has now advanced to the state semifinals five times in the past nine seasons finishing as runnerup in 2019 (Class 4) and 2020 (Class 5) before winning the back-to-back state titles.
PLATTE COUNTY POSTSEASON HONORS
MISSOURI FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION ALL-STATE
First Team
Offense
QB — Rocco Marriott, Sr.; OL — Quinn Lightle, Sr.; WR — Braiden Stevens, Sr.; TE — Jack Utz, Sr.
Defense
DL — Cole Johnson, Sr.; Cale Buntz, Sr.; LB — Carlos Baskerville, Jr.
Second Team
Offense
RB — Adam Gisler, Sr.; WR — Tres Baskerville, Sr.
Third Team
Offense
OL — Michael Poncavage, Sr.
Offensive Player of the Year — Rocco Marriott, Sr., QB
Coach of the Year — Bill Utz
MFCA ALL-CLASS 5 DISTRICT 8
Offense
QB — Rocco Marriott, Sr.; RB — Adam Gisler, Sr.; WR — Braiden Stevens, Sr.; Tres Baskerville, Sr.; Ty Christopher, Sr.; TE — Brooks Hall, Sr.; Jack Utz, Sr.; OL — Quinn Lightle, Sr.; Michael Poncavage, Sr.
Defense
DL — Cole Johnson, Sr.; Cale Buntz, Sr.; Brody Hawk, Sr.; LB — KJ Stallings, Sr.; Carlos Baskerville, Jr.; DB — Mogie Walkingstick, Sr.
ALL-SUBURBAN CONFERENCE WHITE DIVISION
First Team
Offense
QB — Rocco Marriott, Sr.; RB — Adam Gisler, Sr.; WR — Braiden Stevens, Sr.; Tres Baskerville, Sr.; TE — Jack Utz, Sr.; OL — Quinn Lightle, Sr.; Michael Poncavage, Sr.
Defense
DL — Cole Johnson, Sr.; Cale Buntz, Sr.; LB — Carlos Baskerville, Jr.; DB — Mogie Walkingstick, Jr.
Second Team
Offense
TE — Brooks Hall, Sr.; WR — Ty Christopher, Sr.
Defense
DL — Brody Hawk, Jr.; LB — KJ Stallings, Sr.; DB — Mudiaga Egbedeju, Sr.
Honorable Mention
Offense
RB — Zach Burch, Sr.
Defense
DL — Kyler Parker, Jr.; LB — Hank Fowler, Jr.; DB — Adeboye Akande, Sr.; Jack Johnson, Jr.; Matt Cisco, Jr.
PREPSKC MCCARTHY ELITE TEAM
QB — Rocco Marriott, Sr..; WR — Braiden Stevens, Sr.
Offensive Player of the Year — Rocco Marriott, Sr.
Overall MVP — Rocco Marriott, Sr.
ALL-SIMONE TEAM
QB — Rocco Marriott; WR — Braiden Stevens, Sr.; TE — Jack Utz, Sr.
Simone Award Winner (top player in KC metro) — Rocco Marriott, Sr., QB
Otis Taylor Award Winner (top WR in KC metro) — Braiden Stevens, Sr.
