When the West Platte football team stepped onto the turf field at University Academy Charter High School on the Saturday afternoon of Nov. 5, the Blue Jays had a chance to clinch a berth to their first district championship since 2015.
The Blue Jays were unable to end the six-season drought as West Platte fell in the Class 1 District 8 Semifinals. The Gryphons entered the postseason tournament as the top-seed, and showed why that was by defeating the Blue Jays 32-9.
“Sometimes the ball is not in your favor, we had some situations that gave us opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize,” West Platte head coach Jim Newsted said. “The bottom line is that they are faster than us; they have a lot of speed and that made it tough for us.”
University Academy started strong by scoring the first 16 points of the contest on its opening two drives and West Platte trailed by two possessions early. On the final play of the first quarter, Emmett Sullivan rushed for 45 yards and was taken down at the 1-yard line.
Two plays later, Trent Taylor rushed in for a score, but Mason Montez couldn’t complete the 2-point conversion pass attempt. The Blue Jays narrowed the deficit, 16-6, with 11:26 remaining in the second quarter.
Sullivan made another big play on defense as the senior recovered a fumble on the Gryphons’ ensuing possession. That drive ended with a career-long 43-yard field goal by junior Guglielmo Forti with 1:58 left in the first half.
The Gryphons drove down the field, but Tanner Rowe intercepted a pass in the end zone on the final play of the second quarter. University Academy led West Platte 16-9 at the break.
The Blue Jays started the second half with the ball, but they turned it over on downs on each of their first two possessions. University Academy rushed in for another touchdown with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter to take a 24-9 lead.
“We changed to a four-man front after we fell down early and let Lamar Henderson loose a little bit. In the second half we held them to one touchdown offensively, so we did our thing there,” Newsted said.
The Blue Jays lost all their momentum when Montez turned the ball over on West Platte’s next two drives, starting with a fumble at the goal line with 10:52 remaining in regulation. After the Blue Jay defense forced a University Academy punt, Montez had a pass intercepted by the Gryphons and returned for a touchdown.
Trailing 32-9, the Blue Jays had another promising drive ending short of a touchdown. West Platte drove down to the 13-yard line, but a pass from Montez to Rowe hit the turf on fourth down.
“The bottom line is we didn’t perform well enough on offense, we had too many mishaps. I’m proud of the boys and the season, but sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, and that’s the way it is,” Newsted said.
Cameron Williams, above center, led the Blue Jays with 105 rushing yards on 21 carries.
While the Blue Jays’ second season under Coach Newsted has come to an end, it wasn’t without leaving a mark. West Platte’s loaded senior class, that included 12 players, helped the team finish in third place in the competitive KCI Conference, and the Blue Jays finished with their most wins since 2014.
“It’s a great senior class, a large group of the juniors who I started with last year. I can’t say enough about them, I love these guys and what they have done for me. I’m going to miss them dearly,” Newsted said.
Cameron Williams led the Blue Jays on the ground in the senior’s final game when he rushed for 105 yards on 21 carries. Montez added 56 rushing yards, followed by Sullivan who ran for 53 yards on five attempts.
Montez completed three of his eight pass attempts to Trent Taylor, Zayne Truxal and Xavier Reynolds for 29 total yards. Defensively, Truxal led West Platte with nine tackles and Dublin Carnahan was the only Blue Jay to end with a sack and a tackle for loss.