Platte County’s latest rout sets up anticipated Class 5 District 8 showdown

Platte County didn’t allow extra time off to affect performance in the Friday’s postseason opener. The Pirates scored on every offensive possession the first half against Central (St. Joseph) at Pirate Stadium and added an interception return for a touchdown from senior safety Trevor Hay and a safety credited to senior safety Darrell Smith.

Entering off of a bye week as the No. 1 seed, Platte County so thoroughly dominated the Class 5 District 8 semifinal that the starters didn’t play at all in the second half of a 50-0 victory that sets up a much-anticipated championship game.

“The main goal coming in was to get off to a fast start, especially coming off of the bye week, and finish without any kind of letdowns,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “They responded very well to that, did exactly what we wanted them to do. We’ll always take the bye week. The rest is always worth it. Obviously, we’re in a situation where we haven’t been tested and had a lot of shorter games, per se. At the same time, we’ll be ready to go.”

Platte County (10-0) continued a run of dominant victories, having only recorded two wins by fewer points — the closest a deceiving 15-point triumph over Fort Osage back in Week 3.

St. Pius X (10-1) seemingly imposes the biggest challenge to this point in Friday’s Class 5 District 8 championship game, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Pirate Stadium, between two of the state’s most dominant teams. The Warriors pulled away late to beat Fort Osage 36-6 in the other semifinal Friday night.

By that point, the running clock had long since expired on Platte County’s win over Central. The Pirates scored all 50 points in a dominant first half on only 235 yards of offense.

“Our whole defense, our whole team was eager to get out there,” said Smith, who finished with four tackles and a tackle for a loss when he chased Central’s punter out of the back of the side of the end zone late in the second quarter. “We was just all confident, keep preparing for this week, and yeah, we was ready to go.”

Platte County junior quarterback Rocco Marriott punched in two short rushing scores and completed 15 of 19 passes, spreading the ball to eight different receivers with junior tight end Jack Utz and junior wide receiver Ty Christopher catching touchdowns. The Pirates top running back duo of junior Adam Gisler (one carry, 3 yards and one catch, 15 yards) and senior Dayton Doll (five carries 12 yards and two catches, 46 yards also found the end zone before giving way to senior Isaiah Seymour and junior Zach Burch in the second half.

Seymour led Platte County with 28 yards rushing on eight attempts, while Burch added two for 11 yards.

“These last two weeks of practice always been about us, improving us, and really just tightening down on things,” said Marriott, who had 23 yards on just three attempts. “I feel like that really came (together) today. We were well rested and just ready to play.”

Central (6-5) managed only 25 yards of offense in the first half, and the meager output continually put the Indians’ defense in short-field situations.

After forcing an initial three-and-out, Platte County took over at Central’s 47 after a 17-yard punt. Marriott completed his first three passes — two to junior wide receiver Tres Baskerville and one to Doll — to quickly put the Pirates inside the 5.

Two plays later, Marriott bowled in from 2 yards out to put Platte County up 7-0 with 7 minutes, 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

The second drives looked mostly the same for both teams.

Platte County needed to go 57 yards this time with Marriott starting the possession with an 18-yard run. Gisler caught a 15-yard screen pass and induced a late-hit personal foul penalty on the play to put the Pirates in the red zone. After Jack Utz’s first of two catches — an 11-yarder — Marriott threw his first incompletion on a pass after a lengthy scramble kept the play alive, but Gisler rushed in from 3 yards out on the next play.

However, Platte County led 14-0 with 3:56 left in the first quarter, using effective and deliberate touchdown drives to that point.

“I don’t think we had any of the home runs that we’ve been having,” Bill Utz said. “Once we got the ball to them, the kids made plays. It was good to see.”

The big plays came on a third touchdown drive for Platte County in the first quarter. Marriott found Doll on a screen pass that went for 34 yards on an impressive catch and run, and on the next snap, Jack Utz hauled in a pass over the middle and bypassed a pair of would-be tacklers for a 31-yard score to put the Pirates up 21-0.

Jack Utz finished with two catches for 42 yards with the most impressive catch-and-run of his varsity career.

“I’ve always seen it since the sixth grade,” Marriott said. “I’ve seen it before, but it’s been a while.”

Central self-destructed from there.

Early in the second quarter, Platte County’s defense forced a fourth-and-1 at the Indians’ own 18, and the Pirates stopped star senior running back Gabe Fields — a Vanderbilt commit — for a loss and turnover on downs. Doll’s rushing score came as a result from 2 yards out.

Three plays later, Hay picked off Central junior quarterback Kanon Wetlaufer on a ball that went through the hands of an Indians receiver. Hay (one tackle), a second-year starter who missed most of his junior season with a wrist injury, cut to the far sideline and found the end zone with a 36-yard return on his fifth interception in a span of four games — three going back for touchdowns.

“That’s my guy,” Smith said. “He’s doing good. He’s in the backfield. He’s running the defense really well. He’s communicating with us on what we gotta do on our side, and hey, he’s doing the dang thing.”

Now ahead 35-0 and having a running-clock potential for the second half, Platte County managed 15 more points in the final 8:14 of the second quarter.

Central, which didn’t run a single play across midfield in the first half, went three-and-out again with two incompletions that limited the amount of time coming off the clock but received a break when the Pirates went on another lengthy touchdown drive.

Marriott completed passes to four different receivers and capped the march with an 11-yard strike to Christopher. The lone negative for Platte County followed — a missed extra point that left the lead at 41-0. Marriott didn’t throw another pass with Baskerville (team-highs of five catches for 58 yards), Christopher (two catches, 15 yards), junior tight end Brooks Hall (one catch, 9 yards), junior wide receiver Braiden Stevens (one catch, 9 yards) and senior wide receiver Lane Webb (one catch, 4 yards) rounding out the receivers.

“In games like this, it’s always like, ‘Who hasn’t gotten the ball?,'” Marriott said. “It’s fun for me, honestly, getting to get the ball around and just having everyone be happy.”

The final scoring sequence came in an unexpected sequence.

Facing another fourth down inside the 10-yard line, Central opted to have senior tight end Marquel Mayfield run around in the end zone instead of punt with Smith eventually pushing him out of bounds for a safety and a 43-0 lead. Christopher returned the ensuing free kick all the way down to the 2-yard line, and after the Indians’ stopped Seymour for a short loss on the next play, Marriott scored from 3 yards out to account for the game’s final touchdown with less than 2 minutes left before the half.

Platte County held Fields to 17 carries for 11 yards in the first half while continuing to utilize full rotations of a loaded defensive line that includes senior defensive tackles Kameron Doyle (two tackles) and Jordan Miller (one tackle plus one for loss) and senior Archie Wesley (three tackles) and junior Cale Buntz on the ends in the starting four. However, juniors Cole Johnson (three tackles plus two for loss) and Cooper Hammontree (1/2 sack) and sophomores Brody Hawk (three tackles plus one for loss and a half sack) and Kylar Parker (two tackles plus one for loss) also continue to make regular contributions.

In addition, Platte County senior linebackers Cobe Pollard (three tackles plus three for loss) and Brock Fowler (four tackles plus one for loss) provided solid run support. Meanwhile, Wetlaufer completed just 5 of 13 passes for 27 yards with the Pirates’ defensive backfield of Hay, Smith and fellow seniors Caden McGhee (two tackles), Montez Clemons (two tackles) and Bronson Ryan (one tackle) limiting big plays.

“All we know is we have to be aggressive and keep pounding,” Smith said. “Our defensive group is growing, just growing every week. We try to stay consistent. That’s the thing. If we can stay consistent, that can help us a long way.

“We just worried about the Ws right now. We ain’t worried about the stats.”

Platte County’s defense continued to hold after halftime for the first shutout since beating William Chrisman 58-0 in the season-opener. Fields managed just 49 yards total on 20 carries with sophomore linebacker Tres Baskerville (four tackles) and junior safety Mogi Walkingstick (two tackles) leading the reserve defenders. In addition, sophomore Jack Johnson (one tackle) and junior linebacker KJ Stallings (one tackle) saw extended time while junior defensive lineman JoJo Wolo (one tackle for loss, one sack) and junior Mudiaga Egbedeju (one tackle) made the stat sheet for the first time this season.

On offense, Platte County used both senior Brady Davis (3-for-6, 57 yards) and sophomore Brandon Reynolds at quarterback. Davis’ completions went to sophomores Noah Omoike (one catch, 30 yards) and Hudson Humes (one catch, 13 yards) and Seymour (one catch, 14 yards). The Pirates continued to experiment with offensive line rotations with seniors Riley Hixson (center), Drew Doll (right guard) and Owen Rawlings (right tackle plus junior Quinn Lightle (left tackle) having started every game at the same position, while junior Michael Poncavage continued to hold the left guard spot, although senior Gus Keeton rotated in with the starters, as well.

Keeton started the first five games before suffering a knee injury against Belton and them missing two weeks.

“We just all have a great relationship,” Marriott said. “They put in the work. They’re all making sure their plays are right, and then they welcome everyone new. When Gus went down, everyone was helping Michael out, making sure he was comfortable. They’ve kept me clean all year, so I always appreciate it.”

The rotations likely will be tighter this week against St. Pius X, which has won 10 straight since a season-opening 24-12 loss to Class 6 Rockhurst. Like Platte County, the Warriors have rarely needed to play starters in the second half with the only other games decided by less than 30 points coming against St. James Academy (Kansas) (27-20) and Savannah (49-21).

The two teams have not played since meeting in the Class 3 playoffs in each postseason from 2005-2007.

Platte County went 2-1 , winning the first on the way to the state semifinals, losing 17-14 in a 2006 sectional and then surviving for a 17-14 victory in what at the time seemed like potentially the last meeting between two schools separated by just 20 miles. However, St. Pius X’s recent growth in enrollment coupled with the success factor multiplier bumped the Warriors up to Class 5 this season.

That sets up this game between two teams ranked in the top three of the final regular season Class 5 Missouri Media poll — Platte County at No. 2 and St. Pius X at No. 3 — with only one team able to advance to the playoffs. Platte County’s last trip came in 2020 when the Pirates lost to Jackson in the Class 5 Show-Me Bowl, a year after falling in the Class 4 state title game to Webb City. The Pirates went to the Class 5 District 8 title game in both 2021 and 2023 and went into this postseason with just the 19th unbeaten regular season in the program’s history, which spans more than 100 years, and first since 2006.

“St. Pius X is a great program,” Bill Utz said. “Obviously, they have a tremendous history and a resurgence here of late, really, with the willingness to grow. They’ve done a great job of promoting their school, and they’re in a spot where they have to play bigger schools. They’ve earned that. They’re very sound, look great on film. It’s going to be a fun game.”