Platte County’s Week 9 blowout results in improved district seed, instant rematch

None of the scenarios in play mattered, none of the math equations meaningful without a victory to close the regular season.

Platte County left little doubt, dominating from start to finish save for a brief blip in the first quarter Friday night at Pirate Stadium. Pirates senior quarterback Dylan Zimmerman threw four touchdown passes — two each to senior Chandavian Bradley and junior Dawsen Mizell — and added a rushing score, while senior running back Nate Walls nearly topped 100 yards on the ground for the first time this season in a 42-14 demolition of William Chrisman in a Suburban Conference White Division matchup.

In fact, Platte County invoked the 35-point running clock for the first time this season with the mercy rule remaining in effect until a late touchdown in the waning seconds. The Pirates’ reward? They moved from fifth to third in the Class 5 District 8 standings, passing St. Joseph Central (5-4) by fractions of a point and then leapfrogging North Kansas City (5-4) based on a Week 3 head-to-head victory.

Platte County now experiences deja vu all over again, hosting William Chrisman (3-6) this Friday in the opening round of the bracket with the winner advancing to face second-seeded Oak Park (7-2) in early November.

“We’re in a situation where we knew we had to do our part to give ourselves a chance with the equation,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said.

Platte County (4-5) won for the third time in four weeks and bounced back from a disappointing 49-23 loss the previous week to Class 6 Park Hill South. The Pirates never trailed, scoring on five of six first half drives with Zimmerman going 15 of 16 for over 200 yards and all four scores with his only incompletion ironically coming on a second quarter interception.

Zimmerman finished 19 of 23 for 269 yards and completed passes, while freshman reserve Rocco Marriott received ample playing time in spot packages early and late to help see out the win. He completed 4 of 7 passes for 68 yards and added 6 yards rushing on two attempts. The duo combined to complete passes to eight different receivers — Bradley (two for 98 yards), Mizell (four for 57 yards), senior wide receiver Brennan Rich (four for 51 yards), freshman tight end Brooks Hall (two for 43 yards), sophomore wide receiver Dayton Doll (game-high six catches for 41 yards), freshman tight end Jack Utz (two for 25 yards), Walls (two for 14 yards) and senior wide receiver Dom Spears (one for 10 yards).

“(Zimmerman) had a great game; he had a really great game,” Bill Utz said. “All in all, he did very, very well.”

William Chrisman managed 203 yards of offense, but 77 came on one early pass completion and another 80 on the touchdown drive taking up the final 8 minutes, 44 seconds against reserves. In between, Platte County yielded almost nothing while receiving a boost with the return of sophomore Darrell Smith (team-high four tackles) and junior defensive lineman Tucker McDowell from injury.

With plays limited, tackle numbers were spreadingd out with senior defensive lineman Blake Rueckert and junior linebacker Cobe Pollard at three apiece, while Smith (one tackle for loss), Bradley (one tackle, one for loss) — now a two-way situational player — plus junior defensive lineman Kohry Woessner (two tackles, 1 1/2 for loss), sophomore linebacker Archie Wesley (two tackles, one for loss), senior safety Cameron Wolfe (two tackles, 1 1/2 for loss), junior cornerback Jordan Burnett (one tackle, two for loss), and sophomore defensive back Caiden Kern (two tackles, one for loss) all with at least one stop in the backfield to stymie the Bears’ running game.

Despite not having a turnover, Platte County’s defense made quick stop after quick stop to help deliver momentum and short fields to the offense.

“Turnovers are great to get the momentum,” Bill Utz said. “In this scenario, getting the ball back and being able to capitalize on offense, it works well that way, too. We didn’t have that many opportunities for turnovers.”

William Chrisman opened with a three-and-out, and Woessner recorded a third down sack to stop the opening series.

Platte County didn’t move the ball efficiently to start, but the 10-yard completion to Spears kept the opening drive alive. Zimmerman capped the 55-yard march with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Mizell — the first of his career. The Pirates led 7-0 after just 4:22 of game time but immediately yielded a big play.

William Chrisman freshman quarterback Connor Elliott found junior wide receiver Nicholas Terrell behind the defense on a broken coverage three plays later. The 77-yard gain to the Platte County 1 converted a third and 8 and set up Elliott’s 1-yard touchdown plunge two plays later to briefly tie the score at 7-7.

The frustrations were obvious.

“Especially when you have them pinned and you’re in a spot where you can take control of the game,” Bill Utz said. “But it happened; they made a great play. I’m not going to take anything away from the pass. They came down and answered us. The nice thing is we answered back and were able to get it under control.”

Answer back, indeed.

Zimmerman, who finished with 20 yards rushing, Walls and Marriott did most of the early work with long gains on the ground. However, the big strike ended up going to Bradley, the 6-foot-6 defensive end commit to Tennessee being used in certain packages as a go-to wide receiver.

On a second and 15 following a penalty and an incompletion, Zimmerman ended up flushed to his left into a freelancing opportunity. He eventually lofted a pass and found Bradley on a post pattern that started on the opposite side of the field.

Not even necessarily even open on the play, Bradley ended up behind two William Chrisman defenders with the ball lofted over the top of them for a 36-yard precision scoring strike.

“He’s a great athlete,” Utz said. “He’s so athletic to be able to get open, and the balls that are thrown to him he’s able to high point them. If he gets an open field, he’s really hard to catch.”

Up 14-7 late in the first quarter, Platte County would not be challenged again.

William Chrisman gained only two first downs the rest of the half, and even Zimmerman’s interception in his own territory on a jump ball thrown toward Spears resulted in a short-field punt. The Pirates responded with touchdown drives of 30 yards (set up by a 29-yard punt return from senior cornerback Garrett Smith-Dean), 80 yards and 80 yards.

Zimmerman used a 7-yard completion to Rich down to the 1 to set up a keeper rushing score early in the second quarter to make it 21-7 early in the second quarter. He then tossed an easy 12-yarder to Mizell after big completions to Rich and Doll plus a 24-yard rush from Walls on a quick-and-easy six-play, 80-yard scoring drive to put the Pirates ahead 28-7 with 5:10 left in the half.

Mizell continued to be a featured target after somwhat-limited action so far this season. He sparingly played in Week 1 but emerged as a needed option in wake of senior Carter Salzman’s broken collarbone suffered in a Week 2 loss to Smithille. Mizell returned to action in a Week 4 loss to Grain Valley and has accumulated 31 receptions — second only to Doll’s 39 — and now the first two touchdowns of his career.

“He runs such good routes and has such soft hands that if he has an opportunity to catch it, I plan on him catching it,” said Bill Utz, who called Mizell before the season the most improved player on the roster.

Zimmerman’s interception turned out to be the only real blemish on his otherwise stellar night, and after the defense forced a quick three-and-out and a punt went for a touchback, he needed just three plays to put Platte County’s final touchdown of the half.

Doll caught passes for 10 yards and 8 yards before Zimmerman found Bradley down the visitor’s sideline for a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown that featured a couple of moves to shake Bears defenders. The Pirates went into the break up 35-7, and an offensive pass interference penalty killed the opening drive of the third quarter. They ended up punting for the only time.

William Chrisman then punted it back, and Smith-Dean broke down the home sideline for a 43-yard punt return to the Bears’ 5. Two plays later, Walls scored from 1 yard out to cap the scoring and allow Platte County to use the reserves for the final 18 minutes plus with the score at 42-7.

Smith-Dean’s two flashy returns came after he muffed an early punt but ultimately recovered with no harm done.

“If you watch what he did, he was trying to get a big return. He was setting it up to catch it on the run,” Bill Utz said. “And then he was able to do that on two others that he was able to get something out of it. He’s such an explosive player. You see what he does when he’s able to get the ball in his hands.”

Platte County’s offensive line again featured some moving pieces with senior Sage Lutz back at center for a second straight game and senior Braden Parker shifted out to right guard next to now-entrenched freshman starting right tackle Quinn Lightle. The left side for the Pirates continues to be senior guard Tyler Burch and junior tackle Muyonta Maxwell, but senior Brody Gates also returned from a knee injury and saw action at right guard.

The results were positive with Walls rolling up a season-high 81 yards rushing on 14 attempts, while junior running back Grant Archibald managed 2 yards on three attempts in late mop-up duty.

“It’s no secret we’ve struggled (to run) all year, and we keep continually trying to get better,” Bill Utz said. “It’s nice to be able to get that going here a bit late.”

Platte County’s win locked up second place in the conference and leaves them to chase the other championships available to them — starting with Class 5 District 8. That starts with the unfortunate quick turnaround rematch with William Chrisman, which has lost six of its last seven after an 0-2 start.

However, motivation should be easy.

Fort Osage (7-2) locked up the top seed with a head-to-head win over Oak Park last Friday, leaving Platte County with a potentially familiar opponent in the semifinals. Oak Park pulled away for a 47-25 victory in Week 5 from the mistake-prone Pirates as injuries and frustrations mounted.

Platte County could receive a boost from the return of Salzman, a third-year starter who accounted for 13 receptions for 175 yards and a touchdown in the first two games before going out injured late in Week 2. The Pirates have come a long way since suffering losses to now Class 4 No. 1-ranked Kearney (9-0) and No. 3-ranked Smithville (8-1) in the first two weeks with the only reprieve in a 1-4 start the ultimately pivotal 25-14 victory over mercurial North Kansas City, which now faces Central in the 4-5 matchup for the right to travel to Fort Osage in the semifinal round.