Platte County players and coaches recognized the feeling of disappointment following Saturday’s 42-7 loss in the Class 5 Show-Me Bowl. Yet, the undeniable uncertainty on the viability of playing at all this season made a difference in evaluating the disappointing conclusion Saturday at Ray Hentges Stadium.
After taking an unexpected step up from Class 4, Platte County finished 12-2 with an outright Suburban Conference Blue Division title, earned the No. 1 seed in District 8 and reached the state semifinals for the third time in four seasons. The Pirates also earned a second straight state runner-up finish — albeit with another lopsided result in the championship game — in what becomes the second best four-year stretch in program history.
Jackson captured the program’s first state championship while dominating a unique matchup of teams coming off state runner-up finishes. The Indians lost 27-21 in overtime to Carthage in the 2019 Show-Me Bowl.
“It’s obviously disappointing; you don’t want your season to go out like that. You want to go out on top,” Platte County senior defensive tackle Keaton Smith said. “I’m still pretty happy with the way our season ended, considering we weren’t even supposed to really have a season this year. Making it all the way to the state championship in Class 5 in the first year you are in Class 5 is huge, so I wouldn’t really say it’s déjà vu.”
Jackson (14-0) completed an impressive unbeaten season, going up 35-0 late in the third quarter to start a running clock. The Indians’ heralded offense actually failed to score 49 for the first time this season, but the star power was evident.
Cael Welker, Jackson’s senior third-year starter at quarterback, went 15 of 19 for an efficient 165 yards and scored three total touchdowns — two through the air to senior wide receiver Kannen Turley (four catches, 98 yards). Indians’ senior running back Daniel Dickerson added 193 yards rushing and two scores on the ground, including a 75-yarder on their second offensive play to go up 7-0 with 8 minutes, 54 seconds, left in the first quarter.
“We got hit on the second (play), and they scored,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said.
Perhaps more impressively, Jackson’s defense harassed Platte County senior quarterback Chris Ruhnke into an uncharacteristically off day. He finished just 10 of 32 for 110 yards with three interceptions — all in the first half.
All three interceptions were in the first half, but Platte County didn’t allow any points off the three giveaways. However, the Pirates never found consistent offense even after a few big stops early and trailed 21-0 at halftime.
Ruhnke led second half comeback wins for Platte County in the postseason against North Kansas City (District 8 semifinals), Grain Valley (quarterfinals) and Webb City (semifinals), but the Pirates were unable to conjure up any more magic this time around.
“(Jackson) didn’t make any errors; they did a good job there,” Utz said. “Usually with all of our second half comebacks, we were able to put pressure on them also; I mean the mental pressure.
“They had momentum early; we had a chance to kind of put a stop to that and match it. It didn’t happen, and we were never really able to get a grasp on it.”
Platte County didn’t manage a first down on either of its first two drives of the second half, and Jackson came up with the big plays to put the game away.
Jackson’s Flint Guilliams returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown after the initial three-and-out to make it 28-0. After the next three-and-out, Welker completed a 41-yard pass down the middle to Turkey, and three plays later he converted a third and 8 with a 10-yard TD pass to his top target with 4:44 left in the third quarter.
“Obviously, the game got a little bit out of hand for us,” Utz said. “Great team. Hats off to Jackson. I thought they had a very good game plan. Their offensive line is good and it kept us from getting some things we wanted to do on defense, and we had a few miscues on offense that maybe would have helped keep the game a little bit different.”
Platte County trailed 42-0 late in the fourth quarter when senior wide receiver Dayton Mitchell busted a 59-yard kickoff return into Jackson territory. Ruhnke hit senior wide receiver Colby Rollins for 38 yards down the home sideline on the next play, and following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Indians, Pirates’ senior running back Cayden Davis scored from 1 yard out. He finished with a team high 30 yards rushing on 10 carries.
The touchdown marked the first points for Platte County in its back-to-back state title game appearances after losing 48-0 to Webb City in last year’s Class 4 Show-Me Bowl.
“Toward the end of the game, I think whenever we knew it was too far out of hand, all this offense had was that we were kind of playing for our own pride,” said Ruhnke, who completed three passes to Mitchell for 21 yards and two to Rollins for 63 yards in their final game together.
Platte County allowed more than 20 points for just the third time this season. The first came in North Kansas City’s 42-37 upset victory in Week 4 when the Hornets totaled four combined defensive and special teams’ scores, and Grain Valley totaled 28 in a three-point quarterfinal loss two weeks ago.
Smith called Jackson by far the best offensive line Platte County encountered this season — the only unit that mostly neutralized the Pirates’ blitzing schemes.
Platte County senior safety Collin Tyson totaled a team high 11 tackles (two for loss) while senior safety Luke Filger added nine stops (1½ for loss). Pirates’ senior defensive tackle Alex Stearns (eight tackles, one for loss) and junior linebacker Trevor Scott (five tackles, ½ for loss) shared an early sack in the first quarter that negated an early Jackson scoring chance that helped keep the Indians’ lead at 7-0 after the first quarter.
“We were feeling pretty good, pretty hype, because against an offense like Jackson’s, coming up with a big stop like that on our own side of the field was huge,” said Smith, who finished with one tackle. “Eventually, throughout the game, they just kind of outlasted us; they just kept the pressure on. We couldn’t keep up with them.”
Platte County tied a program record playing its 55th game in a span of four years, going 44-11 and reaching the state semifinals for the first time in both Class 4 and Class 5. Prior to 2019, the Pirates’ most recent title game appearances came in winning three straight unbeaten Class 3A/3 state championships from 2000 to 2002.
While the disappointing conclusions will linger, Platte County re-upped the program’s expectations and is leaving an indelible mark on a proud program.
“It’s high school; it resets itself every year,” Utz said. “This senior class has obviously had a tremendous run. I felt like we’ve gone through a lot of adversity and they’ve done a very good job being successful, winning a lot of games that we’ve been up against that maybe we weren’t expected to win and came in and did or put ourselves in spots that weren’t great and were able to come out of it.
“Our kids have tremendous character. They’re an unbelievable class.”