GRANDVIEW, Mo. — A disastrous 15 seconds sunk Platte County’s hopes for an outright Suburban Conference Blue Division title but ultimately didn’t make any difference on the postseason outlook — outside of maybe some external doubt.
Grandview scored two touchdowns in a span of three snaps late in the third quarter to turn a once-daunting deficit into an unexpected lead Friday, October 25 at Grandview High School. The Bulldogs took advantage of three turnovers in the second half to seal a 29-23 upset in the regular season finale — only their second conference win of the season and undoubtedly the biggest.
Platte County (6-3) missed a chance to win the first outright Suburban Blue title in program history — adding to shares in 2012 and 2018 — and was forced to settle for a share of the crown with Smithville. However, Platte County’s 15-0 win over Smithville earlier in the season helped the Pirates move into the No. 2 seed in the Class 4 District 8 bracket, earning a home matchup next week with seventh-seeded Winnetonka (5-4).
“We missed opportunities that could have made this better than what it was and what it is now,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “Now what you do is you regroup and start over and you give yourself a chance in districts. Hopefully, they realize, another performance like this and your season is over. This is a bitter end to the season, but we have a safety net to protect us and let us play again. From here on out, we don’t get that.”
ROSS MARTIN/Special to the Citizen
Grandview’s Casey Council, right, reaches for a pass attempt by Platte County’s Chris Ruhnke during a game on Friday, Oct. 25 in Grandview.
Platte County entered the road matchup at Grandview with a chance to make program history and build some momentum. Instead, the Pirates lost for the second time in three weeks and dropped from No. 6 to No. 9 in the final Class 4 Missouri media rankings before the end of the season. By contrast, third-seeded Smithville (8-1) moved up to No. 5 with its 34-0 shutout of Kearney.
Grandview (4-5) made a habit of playing close conference games this season — three-point losses to Kearney (OT), Winnetonka and a 17-0 loss to Smithville — and finally made a breakthrough on the way to the third seed in Class 4 District 7.
Platte County seemed in control with a 16-7 lead at halftime but faltered during a quick turn of momentum late in the third quarter. The breakthrough for Grandview came on a busted coverage that resulted in a wide-open 61-yard touchdown catch and run for wide receiver Derek Yancey from run-first quarterback Dae’Mond Turner. The connection cut the lead to 16-13 following a blocked extra point.
On the ensuing kickoff, a holding penalty negated a long return into Grandview territory from Platte County junior wide receiver Dayton Mitchell, and two plays later, a Bulldogs defensive lineman knocked a screen pass from Platte County junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke into the air, and Bulldogs defensive lineman Jarri Brooks reeled in the ball for an interception and walked into the end zone on a 19-yard return to make it 21-16 following a successful two-point run.
Only 15 seconds elapsed from the long touchdown pass to the pick-six.
Platte County wouldn’t lead again, and Grandview turned Ruhnke’s third interception of the half into a two-play touchdown drive that ended 7:28 left in regulation. A two-point conversion made it 29-16, the third time the Pirates have faced a double-digit deficit this season — all losses.
“They’re dangerous when they get momentum,” Utz said. “Absolutely we saw that. You can never give a team turnovers and touchdowns. To come back and even make that a close game is hard to do, but you can’t continue to give teams momentum. That’s what happened.”
Initially, Platte County found a response.
Grandview committed a costly pass interference penalty on the first snap of the next drive, and on the next play, Ruhnke hit junior wide receiver Dayton Mitchell behind the defense for a 60-yard touchdown to make it 29-23. Grandview’s next drive reached Pirates’ territory but ended in near collapse.
Turner’s only real mistake in the game was a pass floated toward the right pylon that Platte County senior safety Will Hay picked off inside the 5. He then weaved a return down to the Grandview 30, but a third sideline warning flagged during the runback on Platte County moved the start of the possession to the Pirates’ 45. They converted an initial third down with a 17-yard completion over the middle to Mitchell, but four plays later, Ruhnke’s second fourth-down pass for senior running back Trey Phan fell incomplete.
Grandview ran out the final 3:15 to seal the win.
“Will made a great play on the ball down there on an interception to keep things alive and stop that drive,” Utz said. “It was good to see them come back and make some plays, but what we want to see is not get in that situation.”
Starting with the 15-0 win against Smithville, Platte County has scored just 13 points total in the second half of three wins (also 35-7 over Raytown South and 20-14 over Winnetonka) and two losses (47-7 to Raymore-Peculiar and 29-23 to Grandview).
Ruhnke finished with a career-high 285 yards in the loss to Grandview but completed just 16 of 40 attempts, including the three interceptions. Mitchell led the receivers 98 yards on four catches, while Phan had a team-high six receptions for 38 yards and a score. Platte County junior wide receiver Colby Rollins (54 yards), junior running back Cayden Davis (53 yards) and senior wide receiver Donny Maccuish (42 yards) had two catches apiece.
However, big plays were again the key to all four scoring drives.
“Consistency is definitely an issue,” Utz said. “We’re a team that has to do things right and not make mistakes. We’re a team that when opportunity is there we have to take them in order to be successful.”
Platte County’s offense also started slow with an opening drive consisting of three straight incompletions. Grandview took advantage with a 58-yard touchdown drive late in the first quarter to take an initial 7-0 lead, but the Pirates then scored on three straight possessions thanks to a string of big plays.
A 32-yard completion to Rollins set up a 20-yard field goal for freshman Aaron Cordova — the Pirates’ third-string kicker thrust into duty due to injuries to senior Grant Allen and sophomore Cole Rhoden.
After a stop and still down 7-3, Davis — limited to just 14 yards rushing — hauled in a screen pass and raced 54 yards to set up a goal-to-goal situation then ran into the end zone from 3 yards out on the next play to give Platte County its first lead at 9-7 following a missed extra point. The next possession ended with Ruhnke’s first touchdown pass of the game — a 9-yard over-the-shoulder toss to Phan, who set up the score with a 59-yard rush before being caught from behind two plays earlier. He led the Pirates’ run game with 70 yards on just six carries
Phan’s touchdown made it 16-7, an advantage that held until late in the third quarter.
The big plays on offense dried up after the first possession of the third quarter, which ended with Ruhnke’s first interception. He threw in the area of two receivers in the right side of the end zone only to have Grandview’s Marquise Samuels snare it to help keep the Bulldogs’ deficit at two possessions.
Platte County’s defense ended up on the field for large chunks of the second half and broke twice against Grandview’s diverse, speedy offensive sets. The Bulldogs were held to 323 yards of offense — compared to 368 for the Pirates — but turned the tide with a defensive touchdown and winning the battle of field position.
Minus sophomore cornerback Cade Fowler for a second straight week and without senior safety Trent Rueckert for the first time, the defense received 11 tackles from junior safety Luke Filger, nine from senior linebacker Gabe Harmon, seven for junior safety Spencer Cupp and six from senior defensive lineman Garret Watson.
Platte County also sacked Turner four times — 1½ for sophomore linebacker Trevor Scott, one each for Watson and senior defensive lineman James Gladden and a half for junior defensive end Forrest Boynton.
“We’re a team that doesn’t overcome mistakes very well,” Utz said. “We’ve got to be better that way. You score (on the first drive of the second half) instead of a turnover then the deficit is too big. We talked about that at halftime in a sense that if we go down, get on them and more frustration sets in then frustration is a momentum-killer. If we get them frustrated, their momentum goes away. Instead, they were able to make a nice play, turn the momentum in their favor, and we never got it back.”
Despite the loss, the standings did not change at all from the previous week in Class 4 District 8, which features all eight teams with at least four wins and seven with a winning record.
Platte County ended up on the bottom half of the bracket with three other Suburban Blue teams, meaning a run to a fifth straight district title game would require second wins against two familiar opponents. Smithville and Kearney (5-4) play for a second straight week in the 3-6 game this Friday with the winner advancing to face either Platte County or Winnetonka.
Lincoln Prep (9-0) finished an unbeaten regular season to take the No. 1 seed, drawing a rematch with No. 8 seed Kansas City East (4-5). Excelsior Springs (6-3) held the No. 4 seed with Lafayette (5-4) just edging Kearney for the fifth spot.
Any thoughts about that quadrant will have to wait for Platte County, which just held off a late comeback try from Winnetonka two weeks earlier. The Griffins scored 14 unanswered late in the game and shut out the Pirates in the second half of their 20-14 win.
In fact, Winnetonka drove into Platte County territory for a potential tying or winning score thanks to a prolific passing game that gave the Pirates’ banged-up defense fits at times.
“Tonka’s a tough matchup for us,” Utz said. “Their receivers are really good, and they had some success there late that will give them tons of confidence. We’ll see. We know that going in, and we have a chance to correct some wrongs from a couple of weeks ago.”