Former Platte County quarterback Chris Ruhnke has had a different football experience playing at Northwest Missouri State University then he did as a twice all-state player in high school.
MARYVILLE – High school football accolades: Two state championship appearances, two all-state and all-district selections twice and two conference player of the year honors. College football honors: benchwarmer. That was the reality for Northwest sophomore quarterback Chris Ruhnke, who after paying his dues his first two years in high school before emerging into the limelight, is poised to do the same in college after waiting patiently and learning from his mentors.
A glimpse of glory
Ruhnke called Pirate Stadium in Platte City, Missouri, home as a Platte County Pirate from 2017-2021. After waiting two years to start at quarterback, Ruhnke finally started as a junior at the time, helping lead the Pirates to an 11-4 record.
As a result, the Pirates made their first high school state championship appearance in nearly two decades in 2019. Ultimately the Pirates lost the Class 4 State Title Game to Webb City in a 48-0 shutout at Faurot Field in Columbia, Missouri.
The Cardinals had won the Class 4 football championship 15 times to that point compared to the Pirates’ three championships as a then Class 3 team. The following year, Ruhnke was a senior and helped captain the Pirates to a 12-2 record, now as a Class 5 team where the Pirates again had to face Webb City, this time at Cardinal Stadium in their semi-final contest to get to the state championship.
However, David conquered Goliath on his home turf in the second bout, when Ruhnke and the Pirates gutted out a close three-point victory over the Cardinals, 24-21. Now in position again to capture their first state championship since 2002, Ruhnke and the Pirates lost once more, this time to Jackson, 42-7.
Just like that, the adrenaline of high school football ended for Ruhnke who compiled just over 5,500 yards passing, 50 touchdowns, only 24 interceptions and a 23-6 record in his two years starting at Platte County. Even with such a resume going into the college football landscape, Ruhnke never forgot to credit the help of his teammates.
“I have to give a bunch of credit to my team. We had a lot of talent,” Ruhnke said.
The talent Ruhnke alluded to his four wide receivers he played with at Platte County who went on to play college football. Just like his four high school teammates, Ruhnke decided to continue his football career at quarterback for Northwest Missouri State University.
Sailing to new horizons
Ruhnke got offers from other schools in the Division-II MIAA Conference but chose Northwest. The winning tradition in Maryville was something Ruhnke highlighted as a big reason why he chose the Bearcats over other MIAA schools.
“Coming from Platte County, we won a lot of games. I wanted to keep winning,” Ruhnke said.
Similar to Ruhnke, Platte County head football coach Bill Utz described how he saw the Bearcats and Pirates having similar programs in how they operate on the field and their persistence to win games. Additionally, Utz felt that with a similar atmosphere to Platte County Ruhnke was going to fit in once he arrived at Northwest.
“When he chose Northwest, I thought it was the perfect fit for him. I think he’s a Northwest guy,” Utz said.
Ruhnke was in a crowded quarterback room alongside junior Braden Wright and sophomore Mike Hohensee at the time of his arrival. Ahead of 2021, Northwest quarterback and assistant head coach Todd Sturdy expressed his desire to work with Ruhnke.
“I thought he was a great player out of high school--somebody we had our eye on. He’s a great young man,” Sturdy said.
Déjà vu comes true
As a freshman, Ruhnke was redshirted – which meant he wouldn’t be able to play in the 2021 season. The following year in 2022, Ruhnke recorded only one game appearance on the road against Lincoln but didn’t have any other statistics, other than appearing in the game that Northwest easily won 58-20.
However, sitting behind two other quarterbacks and waiting to start wasn’t a new concept for Ruhnke. He faced the same situation with two other quarterbacks at Platte County before becoming their starter.
Since leading Platte County to back-to-back state championships in 2019 and 2020, quarterback Chris Ruhnke has had limited playing time at Northwest Missouri State University.
“I knew how to learn from older guys. It was nice being able to learn from the older guys like Braden and Mike here [at Northwest] as well and they taught me a lot,” Ruhnke said.
Ruhnke expressed what he learned from Wright and Hohensee off the field and in the film room was valuable to him, along with the coaches pushing him to have a mindset of getting mental reps when he wasn’t playing and staying locked-in during practices. Ruhnke’s progression really started to show up and Coach Sturdy took notice.
“He’s really done a nice job over the last year. He’s really improved tremendously as far as his knowledge and being comfortable in the system. I’m very pleased with where Chris is at in his development,” Sturdy said.
Writing a new chapter
Early in the 2023 season, Ruhnke was forced to take over the quarterback duties against 18th ranked Emporia State with Hohensee getting injured early in the game. Being thrown into the spotlight wasn’t easy, as Ruhnke managed to complete seven passes and threw four interceptions, getting him pulled from the game for third string quarterback Henry Martin.
“I struggled in the Emporia game. I was ready to get another start to prove myself,” Ruhnke said.
It just so happened Ruhnke would get the start he wanted, coincidentally playing the same team he made his only appearance against in the 2022 season, 378 days later in 2023. Ruhnke was masterful against the Blue Tigers in his first real collegiate start, completing 12 of 16 passes for 170 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.
It was the kind of game and opportunity he had waited for, and he seized his moment, leading the Bearcats to a dominant 59-0 win. Ruhnke went on to play in two more games but not as the starter for Northwest in the 2023 season; the first was against Northeastern State on the road and the second against Nebraska-Kearney in the season finale with Northwest finishing a respectable 7-4 overall.
“I’m looking forward to this next season, hopefully to just go out there and prove myself some more,” Ruhnke said.
After gaining the knowledge, experience and mentoring of his peers ahead of him on the depth chart, Ruhnke will look to shine in spring practices ahead of next fall. If Ruhnke were to start permanently after two years of waiting on the bench at Northwest like he did at Platte County, the Bearcats could be in for more success in the coming years with the former Pirate at the helm.