From the opening play to the clock hitting zeros, there was plenty for the Pirates to celebrate on homecoming as the Platte County football team (3-4) had its most impressive outing of the fall en route to taking down Belton (3-4) 38-8 on Oct. 7.
The Pirates had failed to win two consecutive games of the season ahead of homecoming, but that changed in dominant fashion as the home team was in control from the get-go. Platte County started the game on defense and forced two sacks – by Kohry Woessner and Cameron Dean – to force a punt and turn that into a 12-play, 63-yard scoring drive as Nate Walls rushed in from seven yards out with 4:53 to play in the opening quarter.
After the lead was pushed to 14-0 with a 50-yard bomb from Dylan Zimmerman to Dom Spears, sophomore linebacker Cobe Pollard made some big plays on defense. Pollard intercepted Belton’s quarterback on the ensuing drive – resulting in a 26-yard field goal by Aaron Cordova – and then the sophomore blocked a punt and ran it in for six to push the margin to 31-0 with 8:30 left in the first half.
“He (Cobe) has had a couple of weeks in a row where he’s done really well,” Platte County head football coach Bill Utz said. “He got an opportunity a few weeks ago to get on the field and he’s taken full advantage of everything. He’s a great kid with a great personality who plays with a tremendous amount of energy, and when you play fast with energy, a lot of good things happen.”
Platte County’s next offensive drive was stalled with a tripping penalty as the 15-yard violation was the main reason for its first possession that didn’t end with points. Belton only gained one first down in the first half ahead of its final drive of the half that was stalled with a turnover.
Belton drove down the field, but Cameron Wolfe intercepted a pass in the end zone with 37 seconds left to keep the shutout going into the break. Platte County moved the ball to its side of the field but ran out of time to add to the scoreboard, heading into the locker room with a 31-0 advantage.
“Our kids played well; our coaches did a good job this week with the game plan and it’s a crazy game, sometimes it gets executed the way we want it to and sometimes you have to react to things as they come. It’s like a big game of chess so no game is ever the same,” Utz said.
Platte County senior Dom Spears (#19) brings in a 50-yard touchdown in the first quarter of the Pirates 38-8 win over Belton on Oct. 7.
Platte County’s offensive starters only played one drive in the second half before the reserves took over, and after gaining two first downs, Zimmerman punted it to the Belton 4-yard line. Belton switched up formations and relied heavily on the ground to march down the field and score its only touchdown – with a successful 2-point conversion – with 2:21 left in the third quarter.
“Our guys stepped up and did some things that they needed to do, and we had kids that made some great plays. It’s a game of momentum, things started rolling well for us and that’s sometimes tough if you’re on the other end, so hats off to Belton for doing some good stuff, especially there in the second half,” Utz said.
Platte County freshman backup quarterback Rocco Marriott connected with freshman Jack Utz for a 17-yard passing touchdown with 9:23 to play in the game to push the margin back to 30 points. Coming off a 31-26 win over Raytown (4-3) the week prior, Platte County has strung together two big White Division victories late in the season.
“In order to get where you need to go, especially in the postseason, you’ve got to win a lot in a row so our challenge this week was that. Since we won last week, we wanted to come in and get a win this week and get a little bit of a streak going just for us to get some confidence back,” Utz said.
The Platte County defense only allowed one completed pass and forced four interceptions as Wolfe came down with two picks and Jordan Burnett and Pollard both had one. Zimmerman completed 14 of his 25 pass attempts for 212 yards and two scores, while Marriott went three for five passing for 39 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Platte County will have two more games left in the regular season, starting with a Class 6 matchup with Park Hill South (2-5) on Oct. 14. Platte County will wrap up the regular season against White Division rival William Chrisman (3-4) on Oct. 21.