The Platte County Pirates led from start to finish in a dominating 49-14 win over Helias Catholic (HC) in the Missouri Class 5 Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 7, at Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri in COMO.
The Pirates, as they have throughout the postseason, got a fast start and had the Crusaders playing from behind for the entire game.
Platte County quarterback Rocco Marriott beat the Helias Catholic defender to the corner pylon in the Pirates’ win over the Crusaders.
Platte County kicked off to HC to start the game, and the Crusaders started with a big play of 22 yards across the middle, but the Pirate’s defense buckled down and forced a punt. The Platte County offense went to work needing just six plays to score on a one-yard run by junior quarterback Rocco Marriott. The drive was aided by two big pass plays to junior wide receiver and Otis Taylor Award Finalist Tres Baskerville for 27 yards and a 32-yard pass play to Brooks Hall to the one-yard line.
It didn’t take long for the Pirates’ offense to get back on the field. On the first play of HC’s ensuing possession, senior linebacker Cobe Pollard picked off HC quarterback Austin Weaver and returned it to the HC 31-yard line.
Cobe Pollard returned an interception in the first quarter.
The Pirates needed just three plays to score on an Adam Gisler seven-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-0 with the kick with 6:19 still left in the first period. The drive also included a 21-yard pass play from Marriott to Braiden Stevens to set up the score.
The Pirates’ defense forced a punt after a three and out by the HC offense, but disaster struck when senior Dayton Doll fumbled the punt, setting up HC at the Pirates’ 22-yard line. However, like it’s done all year, the defense came up big with an interception in the end zone by senior defensive back Caden McGhee. McGhee said after the game he wasn’t going to let his teammate (Doll) down and was there to pick him up.
Caden McGhee (No. 2) celebrated with teammates after intercepting a pass in the end zone.
“It means a lot to me because that’s my dog, my guy; we’ve been through a lot,” McGhee said about the importance of making that play. “Just being able to pick him up there and help my team.”
The Pirates offense went to work on a seven-play drive that was capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by Marriott. The drive included a 37-yard run by Doll and a 17-yard run by Marriott to set up the score. HC Head Coach Chris Hentges said after the game it was imperative for his team not to let the Pirates get off to a fast start if they were going to have a chance.
Dayton Doll banged his way through for a touchdown in the third quarter.
“This is a football team you can’t fall behind,” Hentges said in the post-game press conference. “We didn’t have a lot of success on either side of the ball. It was our poor execution, but a lot of it was just how good they were.
“We knew we had to play our best game of the year, and we didn’t,” Hentges added. “Platte County is a great football team, and they showed that tonight. Hats off to them, a very well-deserving Class 5 champion.”
HC’s ensuing offensive drive picked up a couple of first downs, but the Crusaders had to punt the ball back to the Pirates, who needed eight plays to score on a nine-yard reception by Baskerville, and with the kick, Platte County led 28-0 with 8:19 still left until halftime. The drive included a big catch by Ty Christopher on third and 10 to keep the chains moving.
Tres Baskerville caught five passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
The Pirates’ stingy defense got another three and out from the HC offense, forcing a punt with plenty of time left on the clock to make sure the second half would start with a running clock. However, the HC defense stepped up, forcing the Pirates to punt for the first time in the game. The HC defense was able to sack Marriott twice during the drive.
The Pirates settled for a 28-0 halftime lead but got the ball to start the second half, and the offense picked up where it left off in the second quarter with an eight-play drive that was finished with Doll banging his way into the end zone from five yards out to get the clock running in the third quarter. Missouri State High School Activities Association rules for football state that the clock must run except for timeouts when a team reaches a 35-point lead.
Platte County Head Coach Bill Utz said the team was a little disappointed at halftime but not to the point that it had any effect other than to motivate the offense for the second half. Utz said the first drive of the second half was typical Pirate football.
“I didn’t see anything out there I didn’t expect. That’s not to say we expected to see a lopsided score, what I’m saying is they answer to adversity,” Utz said. “We had a few things that went wrong, but halftime was very calm, and it was just a matter of what we’ve got to do, and we came out and did it. We expected that.”
However, HC wanted to stop the clock, and the Crusaders did with a long touchdown drive that ended with a 33-yard pass play. The kick was good, and HC stopped the running clock for the time being.
Adam Gisler led the rushing attack with 107 yards and a touchdown.
The Pirate offense, much like the entire season, responded when an opponent scored with a one-play drive of 80 yards on a run by Gisler to get the five-score lead back within seconds. HC Catholic answered with another touchdown drive, but the Pirates got the clock running again with a 25-yard pass play from Marriott to Stevens to cap the scoring.
In total, the Pirates scored seven touchdowns, with Marriott throwing two on 17 of 25 passing for 280 yards and no interceptions. Stevens led the way with 98 yards on six catches, followed by Baskerville, who had 93 yards on five catches. Christopher caught three balls for 35 yards. On the ground, Gisler led the way with 107 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. Doll rushed seven times for 55 yards and a touchdown. Marriott carried 13 times for 53 yards and two scores. Bronson Ryan also had an interception in the second half for the Pirates’ defense.
Utz said this year’s version of the Pirates was the most complimentary team he’s coached in all of his years leading Platte County. Utz wasn’t overconfident publically before the season, but he said after the game his coaching staff knew at the end of last season a run like this was more than possible.
“We saw this coming for a while,” Utz said. “I’ll say the day after the district championship game we lost last year. You could see the attitude that was going to be there right from the get-go. We knew we had a special group the big question coming into it was whether or not we would mesh with junior seniors, offense-defense, and whether they could play complementary football was really the only question coming into it, and they did that from day one.”
Utz said his team was led this year by some outstanding leadership.
“We have a lot of really strong-minded kids,” Utz said. “Very gritty to the point that we’re going to do anything we can to win, but there’s a lot of pride that goes along with it.
“The offense is obviously extremely explosive, but it would not be that explosive without the possessions our defense gives us. Just the leadership, these four guys who were elected captains going into the playoffs, but we saw different leadership throughout the year. They’ve been a big part of bringing it all together,” Utz added while pointing to seniors Darrell Smith, Trevor Hay and McGhee, and Marriott, who were at the post-game press conference.
Utz was asked how good this particular team is compared to other teams.
“It’s really good,” Utz said. “Somebody asked me that the other day, and I’ll never compare this team to any other team because they’re unique. High school football is unique and changes every year. I’d like to sign these as free agents, but I don’t get to do that. To get to this place, you have to be really, really good and be lucky along the way. I’ve been so blessed with so many great people around me; this is just one of the teams. They’re definitely up there for sure.”
