Zimmerman’s career day leads Platte County to another wild win over NKC

Facing a defensive line laden with collegiate prospects and peskily aggressive linebacking corps, Dylan Zimmerman made quick decisions, hung in under pressure and freelanced on the move to a career-best performance.

Platte County’s senior quarterback delivered in the biggest moments of a 25-14 victory over North Kansas City on Friday night at Pirate Stadium — ending a frustrating two-game losing streak to start the season and providing an important result for the Class 5 District 8 pecking order. The Pirates entered in the wake of back-to-back losses to rivals and star senior wide receiver Carter Salzman facing a lengthy absence due to a broken collarbone suffered a week earlier.

Zimmerman finished 23-for-38 passing completing passes to six different with career-highs of 309 yards and three touchdowns in another eventful matchup in an unofficial rivalry. There were three turnovers, a defensive-touchdown-that-wasn’t for Platte County senior defensive end Chandavian Bradley that still ended up in a momentous safety and a possible state record of 32 total enforced penalties — 16 on each team — totaling a staggering 295 yards. In the end, the Pirates celebrated fourth straight win over North Kansas City in what might not be the last time the two teams see each other this season.

“We’re asking a first-year quarterback to come in and start against a very difficult schedule, and we’re expecting him to do what we can potentially see him doing,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “There’s a confidence level for any quarterback. The quarterback gets a lot of praise but also faces a lot of pressure. It’s the toughest position to play for that reason. For him to come in his first two starts and face that adversity, his confidence — anybody’s confidence might waver.

“For him to will that confidence into himself and be confident enough in himself to keep going, make some throws and keep fighting, I thought it was his best full game, and he kept his poise against a defense that was literally in his face all night.”

Running the ball seemed and ended up out of the question for Platte County against North Kansas City’s notoriously nasty front four.

With a three-year starter in Salzman unavailable, Platte County started seniors Tristan Magnuson, Brennan Rich and Dom Spears, back from a one-game suspension, along with sophomore Dayton Doll — the once expected utility skill player forced almost completely out of the backfield. In addition, the Pirates used senior Draiden Chilcoat and freshmen Tres Baskerville and Jack Utz and Even Bradley — the Division I commit to Tennessee almost completely new to offense — with junior expected starter Dawsen Mizell still shelved with a knee injury.

Zimmerman, steady but unable to unlock many big plays in losses to Kearney and Smithville the previous two weeks, completed passes to six different receivers including scores to senior running back Nate Walls on a 59-yard screen play, Bradley on a go pattern in single coverage against an undersized defender and Spears on a jump ball toward the end zone. Spears ended up with career-highs of five catches for 81 yards, while Doll add seven grabs, mostly on quick rub patterns, for 34 yards. Bradley ended up with three grabs for 57 yards and the first offensive touchdown of his career that briefly put the Pirates ahead 13-7 in the first half.

Platte County quarterbacks coach Wayne Baskerville received the praise from his first-year starter.

“I just trusted coach B with the footwork this week, the game plan of what we wanted to do — attack the flats — and we did that pretty well, I thought” Zimmerman said. “That’s what we liked most about coming into this year, we felt like we had so much depth at the wide receiver position. We had guys coming in, rotating in and out playing all over the place, left and right.”

While the offense pieced together the necessary scoring drives to overcome an early deficit, the quickly rebuilt defense continued to shine, recovering after giving up a big catch-and-run touchdown in the first quarter and a penalty-fueled scoring drive in first half.

Bradley returned to form with glimpses of the potential star power that have made him the most heavily recruited player in program history. A week after not recording a stat in a loss to Smithville, he finished with six tackles, a sack, three more pressures and two forced fumbles — one that should have been a strip-touchdown of North Kansas City running back Jermaine House that instead ended up as a safety in the third quarter for the game’s final points. Pirates senior all-state cornerback Garrett Smith-Dean added a pair of second-half interceptions of North Kansas City junior quarterback Garin Walton, a transfer from Platte County in his third career start. He finished 10 of 25 for 162 yards and two scores while facing relentless pressure late.

In addition to Bradley, Platte County junior defensive lineman Kohry Woessner added three tackles, while defensive tackles senior Mar’Ques Brown (two tackles) and sophomore Kameron Doyle (one tackle) helped limit the Hornets’ running lanes on the ground, as they averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on just 24 attempts. Pirates sophomore linebacker Darrell Smith again led the team in tackles with nine while senior linebacker Cameron Dean and senior safety Andy McClure added eight apiece in a third straight dominant effort.

Platte County has allowed just 44 points in three games, but Bradley’s strong play off the edge clearly made the biggest difference.

“I know the first week when we played Kearney, I didn’t play that well,” Bradley said. “I didn’t play like myself normally would. Going into Smithville week, my coaches had told me, ‘Hey, let’s take a step back. You don’t have to be as much of a leader as you’re trying to be. You can just go and play fast, play physical like you did your sophomore year so that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Each team led twice in the first half along with a brief 7-7 tie.

Platte County scored the game’s final 12 points, starting with a field goal for senior kicker Aaron Cordova with 2 minutes, 46 seconds left in the second quarter that sent the Pirates into halftime with a 16-14 lead. They then tallied nine points in a span of 5 seconds during the third quarter in a crazy series of plays that ultimately decided the outcome despite numerous chances late for North Kansas City to pull within a possession and create drama.

“You never count anybody out, and we’ve seen it with these guys before,” Bill Utz said of what has become a string of tight games with North Kansas City.

With the 16-14 lead still holding, Zimmerman made one of the signature plays in his short run as a starter late in the third quarter.

Platte County faced a third and 16 at the Hornets’ 20 with penalties threatening to derail a productive drive. North Kansas City’s pressure forced him to roll out, and he lofted a pass seemingly in the direction of Bradley near the middle of the end zone.

With receivers and defenders all flowing left, Spears ended up tracking the ball first and going up to make the catch and piling into the end zone for his first career touchdown — much to the delight of Bradley, Magnuson and most of the Pirates’ offensive line as the lead increased to 23-14 with 4:49 left in the third quarter.

“I definitely saw Chandavian’s man was rolled down, safety was over the top,” Zimmerman said. “I took the snap, guy was in my face; I rolled out. I was definitely just trying to get it up to my big fellas, but Dom made a helluva catch right there and I loved every minute of that.”

On the ensuing kickoff, North Kansas City senior wide receiver Chase Porter opted to let the ball sent downfield from Cordova bounce inside the 5-yard line, assuming it would bound through the end zone. Instead, it hit inside the 1 with the officials deeming it never touched the goal line before bouncing into the field of play.

Porter corralled the ball but immediately slipped down at the 1 where North Kansas City started the drive.

On the next snap, Walton handed off to House with Bradley careening into the backfield from the right end to strip the ball away. He seemingly picked up the ball and held it while sitting in the end zone before dropping the ball. House picked it back up and was stripped again by Pirates sophomore safety Montez Clemons (six tackles), and Walton collected the ball again with Bradley jumping back on him.

After a brief discussion, the officials never saw the original recovery and awarded Platte County a safety and a 25-14 lead just five seconds after Spears’ touchdown had established a two-possession advantage.

“It should’ve been a touchdown,” Bradley said. “I know I had it. I let go of it thinking they were going to call it a touchdown.”

From there, the game started to feature too much of the officiating crew and an almost unbelievable series of yellow flags.

Platte County took possession off the safety and committed a false start and then a completion for a loss of 9 yards. On second and 24, Zimmerman made his only real mistake when he threw early to Bradley, who didn’t appear to expect the ball at that point in his route.

North Kansas City’s Gionni McBride picked off the pass and returned it to the Pirates’ 34. The Hornets would move all the way to the 3, seemingly in position to cut the deficit back to one possession, but a holding penalty led to a third-and-goal at the 14.

On the play, Walton rolled right, and Smith-Dean (three tackles) stepped in front of the pass at the goal line with the officials making a curious decision to rule him down at the 1-inch line on the play when he appeared to clearly have momentum pushing him into the end zone as he made the catch.

“So many flashbacks from last year where it was me coming off the edge, forcing the quarterback to come through and then him making the play on the ball,” Bradley said. “It’s exceptional.”

Platte County avoided disaster with Zimmerman finding Walls (three catches, 66 yards) on a quick-hitter out of the backfield for a gain of 8 yards to escape the shadow of his own end zone, but the Pirates ended up punting.

Again with good field position, North Kansas City began somewhat of a self-destruct sequence with a flag-happy officiating crew. The first four snaps of the ensuing drive featured penalties with a pass interference call against Platte County moving the Hornets to the 13.

On the next play, Walton hit junior tight end Ezra Peterson — playing his first game since regaining eligibility after a transfer from a Kansas school for minus-3 yards. The situation became worse when a one-handed shove to the helmet sent a Platte County player tumbling to the turf before Peterson made contact with a game official resulting in two 15-yard penalties.

The officials also flagged a Platte County player for unsportsmanlike conduct — the second time in the game three 15-yard penalties were called on a single play — but still resulted in a loss of 15 yards on top of the lost yardage on the play. The drive carried into the fourth quarter, and Walton eventually threw incompletions and third- and fourth-and-27.

“You saw some kids make some plays,” Bill Utz said, “things that we’ve been in our history that we’re used to doing and we hadn’t quite started doing that.”

North Kansas City’s next possession also reached Platte County territory. The key play came when McClure nearly intercepted a Walton pass but saw the ball carom off his hands and into the waiting arms of Hornets senior tight end Jackson Baehr for a 32-yard gain down to the Pirates’ 37.

Two plays later, Smith-Dean recorded a toe-tap interception along the home sideline, marking the third time in his career he recorded two picks in the same game.

“We started to get pressure on the quarterback again and create throws and have a kid like Garrett make two interceptions that only Garrett makes,” Bill Utz said.

Despite all the back-and-forth action and costly penalties, Platte County took over with 7:30 remaining in regulation and managed to run more than 3 1/2 minutes off the clock. The biggest movements on the drive came when North Kansas City senior defensive tackle Edric Hill — committed to Alabama — uncharacteristically picked up a pair of personal fouls on one play, and the Pirates were also flagged for a 15-yarder that led to a Zimmerman punt on fourth and 34 that pinned the Hornets at their own 4.

North Kansas City ran three plays without gaining a yard, and Platte County sophomore linebacker Cobe Pollard partially blocked the punt.

Mercifully, Platte County ran out the final 2:20 with three runs for minus-2 yards from Doll, filling in after Walls briefly left due to injury, without another flag being thrown. The Pirates then congregated in the south end zone per the usual practice but with players displaying quite a bit of pent-up emotion after the very brief losing streak.

“It felt like we should have won the last two games, the last two weeks. Definitely came up short, but this one feels great — love it,” Zimmerman said.

Platte County’s late holds were especially impressive with sophomore linebacker Archie Wesley missing a second straight game with a knee injury, while junior defensive end Tucker McDowell started and recorded a tackle for loss before exiting in the second half with a new injury. In addition, Pirates star senior safety Cameron Wolfe recorded only one tackle and missed most of the game with a tight hamstring.

That left increased snaps for Pollard, Clemons, sophomore safety Tyler Stambersky (two tackles) and even junior Gage Fulk, who went in at defensive tackle and recorded one stop after opening the season as a starter at right guard.

“The defense stayed consistent throughout everything,” Bill Utz said. “Definitely some good things that make you say, ‘OK, we’re right there.’”

Platte County still faced a 7-0 deficit for a second straight week but much earlier this time around.

After an exchange of three-and-outs to open the game, North Kansas City came away with the better of the field position, starting its second possession at Platte County’s 49. On the next snap, Walton threw a wide receiver screen to the right to Porter, who made a clearly hobbled Wolfe miss and raced 49 yards for the game’s opening touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 3:04 into the first quarter.

“I’m not gonna lie, definitely concerning,” Bill Utz said. “Practice had been better; everything had been better as the week went on, and then it was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me?’”

On Platte County’s second drive Zimmerman completed six passes including Magnuson’s lone catch for 9 yards and a pair of third down conversions to Doll but ended up settling for a 42-yard field goal attempt that missed just wide left. The Pirates then critically forced a punt and came up with the big play answer.

A pass interference penalty on third and 21 kept the drive alive, and on the redo at third and 6, Zimmerman threw a screen out to the right to Walls, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards as the eventual go-to starter in his junior season. He raced 59 yards to the end zone, putting a solid juke on a defender along the way for by far his biggest gain in three games.

“Oh my gosh, it felt amazing. Seeing him break that tackle down there and just taking it to the house felt so good,” Zimmerman said of Walls, who has rushed for just 90 yards in three games but now has nine catches for 131 yards, as well.

Platte County kept the offensive line consistent, going with junior Muyonta Maxwell, senior Tyler Burch, senior Braden Parker, senior Brody Gates and senior Sage Lutz from left tackle to right tackle. The top-choice starters struggled to open running lanes with Hill, senior Oklahoma commit PJ Adebawore and senior Division II candidate Jaden Browning wreaking havoc up front and undersized senior linebackers Kaden Torres and Tannavin Williams knifing into created gaps with reckless abandon.

Walls finished with 27 yards on 15 carries, while Doll totaled minus-4 on five. Zimmerman scrambled a a lot but ended up taking two sacks for a loss of 20 yards for his only contributions, meaning Platte County officially totaled just 3 yards on the ground.

That left much of the burden on Zimmerman, the main backup along with Walton last season to senior Jared Parsons.

After Walls’ long touchdown, North Kansas City went three-and-out, and Zimmerman made it back-to-back scoring drives keyed by the pass. He completed a 19-yarder to Baskerville, who returned after missing last week due to injury and totaled three catches for 43 yards, and the second three-penalties-on-one-play scenario also benefitted the Pirates and pushed the ball to the Hornets’ 38.

Two plays later, Zimmerman lofted a pass to the left down the home sideline, and Bradley ran under it while making three North Kansas City defenders run by him on his way to the end zone. This marked his second career touchdown and first since a short fumble return for a score in a blowout of Ruskin last season.

“This entire week we spent a lot of time working on me tracking the ball and doing the things I do best like using my speed to my advantage, using my physicality to my advantage,” said Bradley, who worked in at wide receiver a week earlier against Smithville but didn’t appear comfortable in the role just yet. “Tonight, that touchdown catch really showed me what I can do with my hands.”

Platte County missed the extra point but led 13-7 with 10:33 left before halftime. The Pirates then appeared to start taking momentum when Bradley recorded a sack to apparently end the ensuing drive, but officials whistled him for a taunting penalty as the Hornets lined up on what originally showed as fourth and 16. The officials ruled the 15-yard penalty as a first down, and four ensuring offsides/encroachment penalties to further push the ball down the field.

Eventually on a second and 8, Walton threw a second touchdown to Porter, this one a 28-yarder near the pylon on the home side of the field. The extra point put North Kansas back in front at 14-13.

“There’s times when we have things we should be able to control that we get in our own way a little bit and make it harder than it should be,” Bill Utz said. “Those are the things we have to keep working on and keep getting better at. Luckily, it didn’t force us to come out on the losing end this week.”

Zimmerman went back to work for Platte County with completions to Baskerville (9 yards), Doll (6 yards) and Spears (35 yards) before Walls broke off his longest run of 15 yards. The Pirates eventually settled for Cordova’s 21-yard field goal — the first make in four tries this season for a soccer player pulling double duty who transferred back to the school after two years away.

North Kansas City drove into Platte County territory before half but couldn’t score. The teams then exchanged three and outs to start the third quarter.

Zimmerman’s third touchdown drive included two passes to Spears included an 18-yard completion to Bradley on a third and 13 plus the only catch of the game for Jack Utz from the tight end spot, a big 19-yard gainer. Platte County then committed a costly holding penalty and needed a 14-yard grab from Spears to set up the third and 11 that became his first career touchdown and the quick flurry of points to give the Pirates just enough room, even if they weren’t fully comfortable until the final moments of the fourth quarter.

“Credit to (North Kansas City),” Bill Utz said. “They did some really good things. It’s a game where I had to catch my breath. I’m tired because I’ve been holding my breath the whole game. It’s definitely a situation where they put us in some tight spots, and we put ourselves in some tight spots. Then our defense was able to make plays and get us out of it.”

This marked the fifth meeting between the two teams since the start of the 2020 season.

North Kansas City’s lone win in that span came in Week 3 of 2020 when overcame a huge deficit to stun Platte County late. Since then, the Pirates have won both Class 5 District 8 matchups and the next two regular season meetings between the two teams — mostly in defensive struggles.

Despite the positive outcome, Platte County remains the only team in Class 5 District 8 with a losing record and still sits last in the six-team standings but still has head-to-head matchups left with Oak Park (3-0, first) and William Chrisman (fifth, 2-1). The teams in second through fourth — St. Joseph Central, Fort Osage and North Kansas City, in that order — all have 2-1 records.

However, Platte County has played the toughest schedule of the group thanks to Kearney (3-0) and Smithville (2-1), which are both ranked in the Missouri Media Class 4 poll with Kearney upsetting the Warriors 20-19 in their Week 3 matchup. The Pirates will now look to make it two wins in a row against Grain Valley (1-2), which lost Week 1 to Fort Osage and then last week in a surprising 14-10 victory for Oak Park.

All in all, the results have shown a wide-open field in Class 5’s Districts 7 and 8 with Platte County having all to play for down the stretch and every reason to believe a playoff return could be possible.

“As the season goes, we talk about this a lot: there’s only three chances to win a championship,” Bill Utz said. “You can get a conference championship; you can get a district championship and you can get a state championship. Everyone fights for that state championship, but that’s only one team. So then you go for those other two, and this one, a key win against a district opponent, that gives us a head-to-head with these guys that hopefully sets us up with a better path because we’re likely to see them again because that’s the way the trail’s been going.

“Any advantage we can get is huge.”