For the first time since 2014, the West Platte football team defeated Penney when the Blue Jays outscored their KCI rival 38-29 on Oct. 15.
The Hornets and Blue Jays entered the contest with a top-3 KCI finish on the line as the winner was set to be in the driver’s seat for a finish in third place or higher in the conference with one regular season game left. West Platte and Penney were in a wild, high-scoring first half with eight touchdowns and a 29-25 Hornet lead.
West Platte senior Mason Montez returned to action on Oct. 15, after missing the last three games with an injury.
“We worked our tails off this week at practice and tonight in the game,” West Platte head coach Jim Newman said. “If I can say anything about them tonight, it’s that they believed - they fought to the end and they believed.”
Penney’s quarterback Tucker Ross ran all over West Platte in the opening half as the senior had 283 yards on the ground in the opening 24:00 of action. The Blue Jay defense stepped up in the second half, not allowing the Hornets to score after they came out of the locker room.
“Defensively we had to make some huge adjustments in the second half. Hats off to the kids, the resilience and the fight in them is something else,” Newman said.
After missing the previous three games with an injury, Blue Jay quarterback Mason Montez returned in the contest to give West Platte more of a vertical attack that it has been missing. The senior started the second half comeback with 7:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Montez connected with Dublin Carnahan for a score to give the Blue Jays a 31-29 lead and they never looked back. Cameron Williams rushed in for a short touchdown with 7:00 left in the contest to put the icing on the cake and West Platte was able to cruise to a rare victory over Penney.
“Mason (Montez) came back tonight for us tonight at quarterback and helped us move the ball tremendously. I don’t think Penney was ready for that,” Newman said.
The first half started with the Hornets taking a 7-0 lead and the Blue Jays responding with a 14-yard pass from Montez to Tanner Rowe to tie the game. Penney took a 14-7 lead with 6:46 remaining in the second quarter and West Platte senior Trent Taylor took the ensuing kickoff to the house, but the Blue Jays missed the extra point attempt and trailed 14-13.
“Not only did Mason (Montez) come back and help us more vertically, but we put Tanner (Rowe) who has been playing quarterback out at wideout. He can jump ball those guys and had some good catches,” Newsted.
The Hornets attempted a punt on their next possession and Blue Jay senior Lamar Henderson blocked the kick as West Platte recovered the ball on the 22-yard line. On the next play, Williams rushed into the end zone for a touchdown and the Blue Jays led 19-14 with 4:40 remaining.
On Penney’s first play on its next possession, Ross rushed in for an 80-yard touchdown and the Hornets added to their lead with another score with 39 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Trailing 29-19, the Blue Jays had an impressive 80 yard drive to close out the half, capped off with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Emmett Sullivan to close the gap.
West Platte (7-1) will host Mid-Buchanan (8-0) in the regular season finale and the Blue Jays can clinch a share of first place in the KCI Conference with a victory on Oct. 22.