Fittingly, the final play Friday, Aug. 24 at North Kansas City District Activities Complex featured one more turnover.
With many eager to see the debut of Platte County’s latest all-state quarterback, the Pirates’ defense took the spotlight in a dominant 35-0 whitewashing of host Oak Park. They forced seven total turnovers, including interceptions for seniors Nolan Saale and Cade McNicholas, junior Will Hay and sophomore Collin Tyson plus fumble recoveries for Saale, senior Peyton Stoner and sophomore Keaton Smith.
Platte County dominated possession but never found a rhythm on offense — a fact rendered meaningless thanks to the first shutout since last year’s Class 4 District 8 championship game. Saale and Hay scored back-to-back defensive touchdowns in the third quarter to turn a modest struggle into a comfortable blowout.
“Hopefully, the defense stays playing well, and we know the offense is going to pick it up,” said Saale, one of four players back to receive significant starting time a year ago. “We’re going to be just fine.”
Platte County (1-0) came in ranked No. 4 in the first set of Missouri media Class 4 rankings released Monday evening, ahead of this Friday’s showdown with Class 5 No. 7-ranked Park Hill South at Pirate Stadium. The Panthers enter off of a six-point loss to Class 6 Raymore-Peculiar, which built a big early lead before hanging on late.
Down four defensive all-state selections from a year ago, Platte County did little to deter a lofty early-season ranking. The Pirates forced just 18 turnovers (plus three blocked punts) in 14 games a year ago during the program’s first-ever run to the Class 4 semifinals. They piled up nearly half of last year’s takeaway total in just one game this year, knocking off Oak Park in the regular season for a third straight year.
“This is a Class 5 win, and Oak Park is a much-improved team from what they were a year ago,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “You take away the turnovers, especially the ones for scores, and that’s a different looking game for sure.”
Oak Park managed little on offense in the first half. The Northmen’s initial first down and biggest play before halftime came on an inadvertent fake punt run.
However, Platte County led just 14-0 midway through the second quarter when Saale forced the first turnover, ripping the ball away from Oak Park tight end Ryan Woodson as they went to the ground. On the first play after the interception, Platte County senior quarterback Spencer Stewart — a senior transfer from Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kansas) — hit senior running back Adel Freitek near the left pylon for a 28-yard touchdown pass.
The 21-0 lead held until halftime, and Platte County took the opening kickoff of the third quarter with a chance to add to the lead. After a first down, the Pirates were forced to punt, only to score on Oak Park’s next snap.
Saale ripped the ball away from an Oak Park runner on the home sideline and raced back 32 yards untouched for his first career touchdown, giving Platte County a 28-0 lead.
“I picked it up and made eye contact with the ref,” Saale said. “Like, ‘Is he going to blow the whistle?’ He didn’t blow the whistle so I just took off. I didn’t look back because I knew the only one back there was a guard or tackle. I just wanted to score.”
A few snaps later, Hay — starting at safety — picked off a pass near the same spot on the field and returned the interception 40 yards for a second straight defensive touchdown.
Platte County suddenly led 35-0, and the running clock went into effect with 6 minutes, 8 seconds to go in the third quarter. The Pirates were limited on offense the rest of the way, while the defense added fumble recoveries for Stoner and Smith plus the first career interception for Tyson on the final play of the game.
Hay finished with a team-high seven tackles, while McNicholas had six from his cornerback spot for Platte County. Pirates sophomore Spencer Cupp added five tackles and a sack in his first start at linebacker, while senior linebacker Omar Garcia had another sack in the dominant defensive effort.
“Great week of preparation really led up to this, and it’s fun playing with these guys,” Saale said.
Little went wrong for Platte County despite only gaining 232 yards of offense with the reserves taking over for much of the fourth quarter. The positives even included two touchbacks and a 5-for-5 showing on extra points for junior kicker Grant Allen, a soccer player replacing all-state kicker and punter Parker Lacina.
Oak Park went three-and-out on each of its first two times with the ball, and Platte County only needed two drives to take the lead for good.
A 23-yard scramble for Stewart on third and 6 kept the second drive alive, and Freitek broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage on the next play before racing 22 yards through an open field for the first touchdown. In the second quarter, a 23-yard pass to sophomore reserve running back Cayden Davis, three straight runs from Freitek and a 12-yard completion from Stewart to senior wide receiver Dylan Gilbert put the Pirates inside Oak Park’s 10.
Two plays later, Freitek plowed in from 3 yards out made it 14-0 with 10:42 left before halftime.
“Once we first scored, we kept it up and kept going,” said Freitek, who led Platte County in rushing as a junior while splitting carries with Gavin Hardman but figures to lead the running attack this season.
Freitek finished with 77 yards rushing on 14 carries to go with two catches for 41 yards — the second the highlight play for Stewart in his debut.
Stewart took the starting role at quarterback on the heels of record all-state seasons for Tanner Clarkson (2017) and Justin Mitchell (2016). In an anticipated first start, Stewart went 7-for-16 for 99 yards passing to go with 44 yards rushing. He only completed three passes to projected top wide receivers Gilbert (two for 16) and senior Brice Bertram (one for 12).
Platte County didn’t need a big showing from the two-time Class 6A honorable mention all-state performer but saw plenty of reasons for optimism that the offense will find its footing.
“It’s going to take a little while,” Utz said, “but quite frankly, we didn’t get a ton of reps, especially in the second half. What’s good is we got some things to work on. As long as we can get those things ironed out and learn from it, that’s a success. I’m never going to complain about a score of 35-0 — however it gets there.”