WESTON, Mo. — Drive after drive stalled in the red zone for West Platte in a matchup with East Buchanan — Class 2’s No. 2 team in the latest Missouri media poll — on Friday, Sept. 5 at Rudolph Eskridge Stadium. The Bulldogs didn’t have the same trouble moving the ball into the end zone in a 54-8 win in both schools’ KCI Conference opener.
East Buchanan senior quarterback Colby Rapp, a first team all-state selection a year ago, torched the Bluejays secondary for 303 yards and five touchdowns. Zac Johnson, a first team all-state selection at defensive back last year, was the biggest beneficiary of the huge output with 11 catches for 191 yards and four touchdowns.
The game began about 20 minutes early after the entire city of Weston was blacked out due to a power outage. The teams wanted to get as much of the game in before dark as possible, but the lights came on near the end of the first quarter at about 7 p.m. — the game’s scheduled start time.
East Buchanan held a 32-0 lead at halftime and ran the advantage to 40-0 in the third quarter.
Running back Justin Rhodes, who finished with 73 yards on 16 carries, scored West Platte’s lone touchdown on a 9-yard run to briefly end the running clock. Bluejays senior quarterback Brett Shepardson finished 3-for-12 passing for 46 yards and an interception. He added 95 yards on the ground on 18 carries but also fumbled in the second quarter with West Platte in the red zone looking for a potential tying score.
Instead, East Buchanan reeled off 24 unanswered points to go into the break up four possessions. West Platte dropped to 1-2 overall after a second straight loss, and the Bluejays have plummeted out of the Class 1 media poll. They host Lathrop this week trying to avoid a the program’s first three-game losing streak since losing four straight in 2013.
Last season, West Platte held on to beat Lathrop, 27-21, in an entertaining finish.