Platte County’s pick party of four leads to blowout of Belton

Cameron Wolfe spent the majority of the season frustrated with injury limiting his playing time, and the nagging hamstring injury left him unsure of how much he could see the field in Friday’s homecoming matchup at Pirate Stadium.

Belton saw plenty of Platte County’s three-year contributor and second-year starter at safety. Wolfe accounted for two of a sesaon-high four interceptions for the Platte County in what ended up a comfortable 38-8 blowout victory in the Suburban Conference White Division battle of Pirates. The first stopped Belton’s only substantial drive in the first half and the second came with an opportune scoop to keep the ball off the turf and help punctuate the team’s most complete performance of the season.

Wolfe mostly manned his normal safety spot but also received some time at linebacker with injuries piling up there and after a rumored move to that spot in the preseason didn’t materialize. He missed all or part of the previous four games due to the hamstring.

“The injury I’ve been dealing with has been kind of tough mentally and physically but most mentally,” said Wolfe, who finished with four tackles to move his season total to 22 after coming into 2022 as Platte County’s top returning tackler. “These couple of plays I made this game, they get my confidence back, and I’m ready to go the rest of the season.”

Platte County (3-4) moved within a game of .500 after winning back-to-back games for the first time this season. The comfortable result included a 31-0 halftime lead and the ability to liberally rotate in reserves during the final two quarters — a luxury not afforded during a more-difficult-than-normal opening six weeks.

Belton didn’t have a first down during its first five possessions, and Platte County senior quarterback Dylan Zimmerman, who finished 14 of 25 for 212 yards, took advantage with touchdown passes to senior wide receivers Dom Spears (three catches, team-high 98 yards) and Tristan Magnuson, while sophomore linebacker Cobe Pollard continued his breakout run of play with an interception that led to a short field goal from senior kicker Aaron Cordova and a blocked punt he scooped up himself and returned a short distance for his first career defensive touchdown.

Platte County scored on each of its first five possessions with the quick stops fueling the offense’s momentum.

“The momentum is huge for us as an offense,” said Platte County senior running back Nate Walls, who ran for 48 yards and a touchdown on just seven carries while catching one pass for 15 yards. “I know it’s not us creating the turnovers, but it gives us the biggest boost, and we’re ready to to go out there and score for them.”

The return of Wolfe contributed to the defense’s improved performance after allowing 47 points in a Week 5 loss to Oak Park and 26 in a closer-than-necessary win over Raytown a week earlier when the Blue Jays repeatedly burned the secondary for big plays in the pass game.

However, Platte County played without sophomore linebacker and leading tackler Darrell Smith (concussion), while junior defensive lineman Tucker McDowell (shoulder) remained limited. In addition to Wolfe, Platte County senior defensive tackle Mar’Ques Brown (one tackle) returned from a one-game absence for disciplinary reasons, and senior linebacker Cameron Dean (three tackles) survived his elbow injury scare from the week prior

Platte County senior safety Andy McClure led Platte County with 13 tackles, while coaches again utilized a 3-3-5 look that included a defensive line rotation of Brown, junior Kohry Woessner (five tackles), senior Blake Rueckert (three tackles 1/2 for loss), sophomore Jordan Miller (three tackles), sophomore Kameron Doyle (two tackles) and senior Chandavian Bradley (one tackle, one for loss), while Dean, Pollard (nine tackles, 2 1/2 for loss) and sophomore Archie Wesley (three tackles in his third game back after missing three with a knee injury) took the majority of snaps at linebacker with Smith out.

“Our defense played really, really well that first half and did some good things,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said.

The defense went with senior Garrett Smith-Dean (two tackles) and junior Jaden Burnett, who made two tackles and recorded his first career interception, at cornerback with sophomore Caden McGhee settling into his new role at safety with a career-best six tackles while sophomores Montez Clemons (four tackles) and Taylor Stambersky (one tackle) were more rotational depending on scenario.

Platte County dominated from the outset with Woessner and Dean recording sacks on back-to-back plays to end the opening drive.

Zimmerman then led Platte County’s longest drive of the night, a 12-play march that covered 63 yards and included a fourth-and-1 conversion from the quarterback, a juggling 22-yard catch and run to junior wide receiver Dawsen Mizell and completions to three different receivers. Walls accounted for the final 7 yards on a twisting run after taking contact near the line of scrimmage and fighting into the end zone.

Walls took four of his seven carries on the opening possession with Platte County testing a reconfigured offensive line that included junior Muyonta Maxwell (left tackle), Tyler Burch (left guard) and senior Braden Parker (center) at their normal spots, while junior Becker Greco earned his first career start at right guard while freshman Quinn Lightle remained at right tackle. Lightle shifted there two weeks earlier when senior guard/tackle Brody Gates suffered a knee injury early against Oak Park, and Platte County coaches were eager to get more looks at a struggling running game after Walls ran for a season-high 52 against Raytown a week earlier, and the early touchdown run provided a spark thanks to multiple broken tackles on the play.

“Sure there was a little contact, but I felt the line played great tonight,” said Walls, who has now scored a touchdown in three straight games. “They were creating holes for me, and they were giving me space to work with. It’s just like you said, flush it. You’ve got to move on. You stick with (the bad), it’s going to stick with you the whole time. If you’re stuck on a bad game, another bad game is created. You just have to move on — get ready for the next.”

Platte County struck much more quickly after forcing a second three-and-out. Zimmerman completed an 18-yard pass to Mizell (four catches, 62 yards) and then found Spears behind the defense on the next play. The lanky senior and increasingly frequent downfield target hauled in the pass and marched into the end zone uncontested for a 50-yard score to make it 14-0 with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the very next play, Pollard stepped in front of a pass from Belton senior Lane Cross, who moved from wide receiver to make his first career start. Pollard’s first career interception came a week after he recorded a pair of sacks in the fourth quarter of the win over Raytown that sealed a win that stopped a two-game losing streak.

“I love Cobe. He’s one of those guys,” Wolfe said. “A lot of physicality. He’s a young guy. He has so much potential. He’s only going to get better. I’m excited to see what he does. He’s played awesome these past couple of weeks.”

Platte County took over at Belton’s 20 after a 13-yard return from Pollard but couldn’t gain a first down. Facing a fourth and six, Utz took a timeout and ultimately sent in Cordova, who calmly hit a 26-yard field in what ended up a second straight perfect week for the first-year senior after a nagging quad injury contributed to some struggles and missed games the first five weeks of the season.

“We basically get him on Fridays,” Utz said of Cordova, a star forward on Platte County’s soccer team who spent the past two years in St. Louis before moving back home for his senior season. “For him to come in and make plays on really short notice and short time, it’s great. It’s a testament to how good of an athlete he is, especially the mental side of it. He’s a physically gifted kid, but the mental side to be able to do this is pretty hard. Field goal was big. That looked good.”

Up 17-0 and still in the first quarter, Platte County continued to fluster Cross, who finished 1-for-7 for 36 yards with three interceptions while splitting snaps with senior running back turned quarterback most of the year Ethan Yinger (0-for-1, one interception). Cross threw two incompletions on the next three and out, and a 26-yard punt return from Smith-dean set up a short field.

Platte County took advantage in just three plays — an incompletion, 22-yard run for Walls and a scramble drill 9-yard scoring pass from Zimmerman to Magnuson in the back of the end zone. Magnuson’s lone catch of the night went for his first touchdown of the season after he totaled three in 8 1/2 games as a junior before a season-ending broken collarbone suffered in the regular season finale.

“Similar to Cameron, a kid who has some experience that we haven’t heard a lot about this year,” Utz said. “Anything he can do will help us down the road, and again, if he can get rolling and get some momentum, that’s another good receiver capable of making big plays.”

Belton’s struggles persisted, and the deficit hit 31-0 four plays later when Pollard surged through the punt protection for his second blocked kick of this season, this one easily scooped up and raced into the end zone with 8:30 left in the first half.

Yet, the 35-point running clock would elude Platte County the rest of the way.

Belton gained an initial first down with just over 8 minutes on the second quarter clock but ultimately punted. Platte County lined up for a punt of its own thanks to a tripping penalty stalling out a promising drive, and Zimmerman’s “fake punt” pass fell incomplete.

Cross accounted for his lone completion late in the quarter to move the ball to Platte County’s 24, but three plays later on third-and-8, Wolfe went high to intercept a pass in the end zone.

“We’re so young, so it’s great to have an old guy in there, if you will,” Utz said of Wolfe. “And he’s got tons of experience so to be able to have the experience he’s had through his career and get him back on the field is huge. He’s getting healthier at the right time, and it’s settling for everyone to have him out there.”

An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Belton post play moved the ball to Platte County’s 35, and a 43-yard completion to Spears set up a potential scoring position. A holding penalty negated a 21-yard completion to Magnuson and ultimately spoiled a potential scoring drive that could have put the running clock into effect.

Instead, Platte Platte County punted on the opening drive of the third quarter after a 14-yard completion to Mizell and 11-yard run for Walls gave initial first downs.

Belton started first and 10 at its own 4 and went to a heavy package that allowed them to run Yinger (six carries, 22 yards), senior CJ Freeman (18 carries, 75 yards) and and senior Greg Lyles (15 carries, 71 yards). The ensuring touchdown drive ended up lasting for 19 plays and taking 8 1/2 minutes off the clock. Belton accounted for 96 of its 179 yards of offense on the lengthy march to cut the deficit to 31-8 after a two-point run from Yinger.

While similar packages have given Platte County trouble at multiple points this season, Utz didn’t worry too much about the strategy. Belton ended up limiting itself to just four second half possessions with the second and third ending on interceptions for Wolfe and Burnett.

In addition, Platte County went deeper into its offensive line rotation with senior Sage Lutz, a starter most of the season, plus sophomores Drew Doll and Jacob Domain and others receiving a look.

“We obviously wanted to go down and score, get the clock going. Didn’t happen,” Utz said. “But that leads to some opportunities for other kids to play. We felt comfortable about it. The defense had done a great job the first half; they changed a few things, but what they did wasn’t going to work with the clock so we felt comfortable with what we were doing.”

Platte County went to freshman quarterback Rocco Marriott (3-for-5, 39 yards) on its second possession of the second half and eventually punted the ball away.

Wolfe’s second interception required him to go low for a wobbling pass from Cross, and Platte County took advantage with junior running back Nate Archibald ripping off a 28-yard gain with a facemark at the end of it before Marriott completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Jack Utz — son of the head coach — for the first of what could be many scoring connections between the two budding youngsters.

“It was a really cool moment,” Bill Utz said. “He’s been working hard; he’s been working as hard as anybody. It’s cool for me to see any kid get their first one, but obviously, that was a special moment. I knew it was going to be special, but that was really cool.”

Archibald 39 yards on seven carries, while Marriott ran for 20 yards on five carries. He completed two passes for 27 yards to Utz and a third to sophomore wide receiver Lane Webb — the first of his career.

Platte County sophomore Dayton Doll with five catches for 28 yards a week after hauling in the first two touchdown receptions of his career. The two sides of the ball were as complementary as they have been all season with the early stops leading to the lowest yield of points so far and a season-best for points scored.

“Adrenaline was keeping us going,” Wolfe said. “We had a lot of highs; we didn’t have very many lows, which is really good — gives the offense a lot of confidence to go out there. We know we have their backs, and we know they have ours.”

Platte County continued to gain momentum but still sits No. 5 in the most recent Class 5 District 8 standings. However, the Pirates gained ground on No. 4 St. Joseph Central (4-3).

A win over Class 6 Park Hill South (2-5) this week would boost Platte County’s chances of a higher seed, but much remains to be determined due to the remaining schedule and the possibility of seed movement due to head-to-head results.

Oak Park (6-1) moved up to No. 8 in the most recent Class 5 Missouri Media poll and holds the top spot in the six-team District 8 standings after a 13-7 win over currently third-seeded North Kansas City (5-2) last week. No. 2 Fort Osage (5-2) plays the those teams over the final two weeks of the regular season starting with a road trip to North Kansas City this Friday.

In addition to those results, Platte County’s 25-14 victory in Week 3 over North Kansas City could also loom large along with the Pirates’ 47-25 loss to Oak Park two weeks ago.

“We’ve got a tough game (this) week against Park Hill South — very good football team,” Wolfe said. “You know, like I said, just keep building momentum. Our district is very open; that’s what coach Utz keeps saying every single week.

“I think we can get some stuff done.”