PLATTE CITY – The Class 5 District 8 Semifinal was an absolute dogfight between Platte County (9-2) and Fort Osage (6-5) as the Pirates held on to win 28-21 on Nov. 3.
Platte County sophomore quarterback Rocco Marriott (#9) breaks loose for a 61-yard score in the first half of the Pirates 28-21 win over Fort Osage on Nov. 3.
With a district championship berth on the line in a win-or-go-home, the No. 2 seed survived on a highly penalized night. Platte County had the luxury of being ahead from the start, but the No. 3 seed fought back.
Leading 28-14 with right under four minutes remaining, Platte County sophomore Adam Gisler fumbled the ball and Fort Osage took advantage with a 16-yard pass to Trace Smith two plays later. The Pirates punted on the next series and the Indians had a chance to tie the game in the closing minute until Seth Martin broke up a pass on 4th down with 19 seconds left.
“It wasn’t just that last series, it was a whole game,” Platte County head football coach Bill Utz said. “If you look back at it you can kind of pinpoint one play here and there, but you’ve got to go back and look at the whole game and say this is a situation where we jump out to a big lead, they come back and make it a close game.”
Platte County senior defensive lineman Tucker McDowell chases down a Fort Osage player in the Class 5 District 8 Semifinals.
Although the game went down to the wire, that wasn’t always apparent as the Pirates went up 20-0 in the first quarter, scoring on the first three series. Tres Baskerville returned the opening kick 26 yards to midfield to set up a 4-play, 51-yard scoring drive that took right over 60 seconds.
On a 3rd and 11 from the Fort Osage 36-yard line, Rocco Marriott threw a touchdown pass to Dawsen Mizell. The Indians went three-and-out in their first two drives and the Pirates capitalized on both.
Following a 26-yard touchdown reception by Baskerville, Marriott broke loose for a 61-yard scramble down the right sideline for six to make the score 20-0 with 2:32 on the first quarter clock. Gisler had a pivotal block near the end zone to help Marriott score on the play.
Dawsen Mizell celebrates after one of his two touchdowns in the Pirates’ 28-21 postseason win.
“I challenged them to come out, get into it and get after people right away and they did that. In this game, playing with a lead the whole time was huge, so the defense did a great job early on and we were able to get points early. In this case, we were able to get points and they didn’t which turned out to be the difference,” Utz said.
Fort Osage responded with back-to-back scoring drives to make the score 20-14, which is what the scoreboard read at halftime. Platte County’s offense cooled down after taking the 20-0 lead, not scoring again until its first possession of the fourth quarter.
Braiden Stevens brought in a 43-yard reception all the way to the Indians’ 26-yard line. Following another fresh set of downs and a slew of penalties, the Pirates faced a 2nd and 22 when Mizell ran a crossing route and walked into the end zone on a 28-yard reception.
“Dawsen’s a great receiver, the defense kind of got busted and twisted up a little bit and he got open. Luckily, Rocco saw him at the right time and put it up there to let him make the play,” Utz said.
Platte County went for two after the touchdown and the ball was moved to the 1-yard line after a Fort Osage penalty as Gisler converted it to make the score 28-14 with 7:11 on the clock. By the end of the night, Platte County was called for 10 penalties for 110 yards and Fort Osage was flagged nine times for 33 yards.
Marriott completed 11 of his 16 passes for 219 yards, three scores and no interceptions. He added 69 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Quinn Lightle (#72) lifts up Tres Baskerville (#26) after the sophomore brought in a 26-yard touchdown reception on Nov. 3.
Mizell had a huge night, racking up four catches for 89 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Stevens had three receptions for 92 yards. With the victory, Platte County advanced to the district championship and will take on Grain Valley (9-1) next.
“We’ve been in the district championship seven times over the last eight years, so we enjoy the ride and it’ll be an unbelievable task with Green Valley being the one seed. They’re an excellent team, I think they’re number two in the state, but we fought hard today to give ourselves a chance to get down there,” Utz said.
Earlier this season, Grain Valley ran for 355 yards against Platte County in a 45-24 win. The Pirates haven’t won a district title since 2020 and will have a chance to claim one on the road on Nov. 10.