Eventually, Bill Utz reached the point of no return.
The final seconds before halftime were ticking away, and Platte County’s veteran coach didn’t want to take a timeout and give Grain Valley a chance to set its defense. The Pirates rolled with the final play before halftime, and junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke hurled a pass toward the end zone. As eyes followed the action, everyone at Pirate Stadium on Friday, Nov. 22 saw junior wide receiver Colby Rollins open in the back of the end zone.
The unconventional — and unplanned — 31-yard touchdown pass with no time left on the clock gave Platte County the lead back, and the Pirates never allowed Grain Valley back into the Class 4 quarterfinal rematch between the Suburban Conference Blue Division foes.
“It almost got away from us. I’m not going to lie,” Utz said after Platte County’s 38-21 victory, which sends the Pirates into the state semifinals for the second time in three years and seventh time in program history. “It was a situation that luckily (Rollins) got open; they completed it, but it could’ve been a disaster.
“But it wasn’t. It worked out.”
Ruhnke and Rollins connected on three first-half touchdown passes — two of the extraordinary variety — to help Platte County erase an early 7-0 deficit, and the Pirates’ running game took over in the second half in what turned into a memorable home finale. The matchup looked nothing like a regular season meeting in which Grain Valley built a 17-0 lead only for Platte County to score three unanswered touchdowns in the fourth quarter of an 18-17 victory.
Platte County (10-3) has won four straight in the postseason since an upset loss at Grandview to end the regular season that forced the Pirates to share the conference title. Three of those four games have been rematches with Blue Division rivals.
With a high volume of seniors on the roster, Platte County advances to make a cross-state trip to face St. Mary’s (11-2) in a Class 4 semifinal scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in south St. Louis. The Dragons have won nine straight but entered the postseason unranked before earning their second semifinal trip in program history.
Platte County has much more postseason history, but most of the Pirates’ key contributors — outside of senior right tackle Max Renner and senior defensive end Garret Watson — were mainly observers in 2017 during the most recent playoff trip, which ended with a semifinal loss to Webb City.
“My sophomore year, I was emotionally attached to the team, as the young guys should be,” said Platte County senior safety Will Hay, who made five tackles to go with a pass defensed in the win. “But as a senior, it’s a lot different. Making plays, you actually feel like you’re a part of the win, and it’s an amazing feeling.”
Up 21-14 at halftime, Platte County took the opening kickoff of the second half and immediately went to an up-tempo offensive attack.
Cayden Davis, a junior running back, ripped off runs off 11, 15 and 11 yards club-sandwiched around completions from Ruhnke to senior wide receiver Donny MacCuish and junior wide receiver Dayton Mitchell. The Pirates went 60 yards in just five plays, and the second 11-yard run from Davis resulted in a touchdown that made it 28-14 exactly 2 minutes into the third quarter.
“Our line just wore them down, and our running game started to open up,” Ruhnke said. “The line said they liked going with tempo because their line couldn’t keep up. Then it’s just Cayden running hard and breaking tackles.
“I think it was one of our best drives of the night.”
Grain Valley immediately went three and out, and Platte County ate up more than 5 minutes on another touchdown drive.
Ruhnke converted one third down with a 10-yard scramble and then another with a 14-yard pass to a sliding Rollins for the last of his five receptions. A pass interference penalty put the Pirates at the Eagles’ 11, but Utz faced a decision with an eventual fourth and 1 at the 2. He opted to run Davis, who plowed in for his second touchdown to make it 35-14.
For the second straight week, Davis led Platte County in rushing — this time totaling 69 yards (63 in the second half) on 14 carries — while senior Trey Phan added 21 yards on seven attempts. The Pirates’ offensive line of Renner, senior right guard Wyett Wallingford, senior center Luke Seigel, senior left guard Kevin Fagan and junior left tackle Trey Butcher were effective against a talented Grain Valley defensive front on the two third quarter scoring drives.
“The first half, we struggled a little bit,” Utz said. “Pass blocking has always been good, and they did a great job there. But second half, that opening drive when we just ran the ball was pretty telling, and they did a great job with it.”
Platte County’s defense made the 21 unanswered points stand up. A long kickoff return following the second Davis touchdown run and a missed assignment on an option pitch led to a 23-yard touchdown for Grain Valley senior Seth Dankenbring before the end of the third quarter. The Eagles then had the ball twice in the fourth quarter, but Platte County quickly stopped them both times.
On the first, Platte County sophomore linebacker Trevor Scott (nine tackles) made a key stop for a loss that led to an 8-yard punt, and the Eagles didn’t gain a yard on four plays resulting in a turnover on downs to end their final drive.
Gabe Harmon, a senior linebacker, led Platte County’s defense with a season-high 12 tackles, while junior safety Spencer Cupp added seven. The Pirates held Grain Valley to just 228 yards of offense and very little of the production came after Ruhnke and Rollins provided a big surge of momentum.
“No matter what the offense is doing, we have the same mindset — the same thing we want to do,” Hay said. “But definitely, Colby, three touchdowns in the first half, that’s insane. Obviously, we’re going to feed off that.
“Our offense did a great job tonight, and I’m proud of them. I’m really proud of them. Our entire defense stepped up, like we should.”
Grain Valley was within 35-21 and with the ball when Scott came up with his biggest play of the night. On the ensuing punt, Grain Valley quarterback/punter Parker Bosserman rolled right before appearing to make a late decision to kick and not try a fake. The ball flew out of bounds on the Eagles’ sideline at their own 35.
Platte County moved the ball with two first downs — a 15-yard completion to Maccuish and a 12-yard scramble from Ruhnke — but eventually lined up for a 26-yard field goal, which sophomore reserve kicker Cole Rhoden drilled. The kick gave the Pirates a three-score lead again at 38-21 with 4:58 left in regulation.
Early in the week, Utz made the decision not to pursue a difficult scenario with senior kicker Grant Allen, who scored a goal in the Platte County soccer team’s Class 3 state semifinal win across the state earlier in the day. Instead of asking Allen to travel back and be available, Utz allowed Rhoden, who recently returned from a shoulder injury, to practice all week knowing he would be the starter.
Rhoden handled kickoff, PAT and field goal duties, just as he did in a regular season win over Raytown South when Allen had another soccer conflict, and went 5-for-5 on extra points in addition to making his only field goal try.
“(Rhoden) is a kid that kind of thrives in that kind of situation. Pressure doesn’t seem to get to him too much. He stepped in and did a great job,” said Utz, noting the performance was even more impressive considering Allen had made three field goals in both the Pirates’ District 8 semifinal and championship game wins over Smithville and Lincoln Prep the previous two weeks.
After Grain Valley turned the ball over on downs moments later, Platte County ran out the final 3:09. Ruhnke hit Mitchell for their longest connection of the night — a 24-yarder that allowed the Pirates to kneel out the remainder. Mitchell finished with three catches for 46 yards.
“It feels good,” Ruhnke said. “It feels great to win any time.”
While Platte County finished with 38 points, the offense started out slow.
Grain Valley took the opening kickoff only to cede the first opportunity at seizing momentum. On a third down and 8 near midfield, the Pirates deflected a Bosserman pass, and senior safety Trent Rueckert picked off the fluttering ball and returned it to Grain Valley’s 46.
Platte County went three-and-out on that drive, and the Pirates’ second possession ended the same way after a costly holding penalty. In between, Grain Valley drove for its initial touchdown with Bosserman scoring on a 29-yard keeper — spinning out of a tackle near the 5 and carrying his momentum into the end zone.
After Platte County’s second punt, Grain Valley was in position to take a multiple-score lead just as they had done in the first meeting.
“If we go down 14, it’s probably a different game,” Utz said. “We’re chasing two scores, and that’s hard to do, especially late in the season when you’re in a situation where you’re in the playoffs and it’s emotional. We came up with a big stop. It saved us, really.”
With Platte County having run only six offensive plays, Grain Valley’s third possession made it all the way to the Pirates’ 26. The Eagles eventually faced a fourth and 9 there, and instead of trying a long field goal, Bosserman tried to roll out of pressure to the right on a pass play only to be caught from behind and sacked by junior defensive tackle Alex Stearns to force a turnover on downs.
Platte County lost Stearns to an elbow injury on the opening kickoff of the season, and he did not return until a Week 8 win over Winnetonka. He’s slowly become more involved, and against Grain Valley, he played his best game so far with nine tackles and the sack that changed the course of the outcome.
“That’s what we thought we would get out of him,” Utz said. “He’s coming into his own, and he’s so disruptive and gets after things so good that he becomes hard to block. And he’s athletic so he’s able to make some plays, and he just plays hard. He has an unbelievable motor and takes advantage of that.”
After the stop, Ruhnke started to show the form that would lead him to the best performance of his first season as Platte County’s starter. He had completions to Mitchell, senior Hunter Clarkson (one catch, 8 yards) and Maccuish (five catches for 52 yards) to set up a 29-yard touchdown pass to Rollins behind the defense to tie the score at 7-7.
Grain Valley immediately went three-and-out with Platte County senior defensive end James Gladden (six tackles) combining with Scott for a sack that resulted in a 13-yard loss on third down. Following the punt, the Pirates were at Grain Valley’s 41.
On the very next play, a high snap sailed over Ruhnke’s head, forcing him to retreat and scoop up the loose ball. He started to scramble left and then turned back right before heaving a pass toward Rollins down the visitor’s sideline. A pair of Grain Valley defenders converged but ran into each other as Rollins went up to grab the jump ball, corralling it and sprinting the rest of the way for a 41-yard touchdown.
“I picked up the ball, and when I turned around, I saw Colby Rollins wide open,” Ruhnke said. “I thought I’d give him a chance.”
The play was a run-pass option with Ruhnke intending to hand the ball off. Rollins, admittedly a bit angered after being named only honorable mention All-Blue Division at wide receiver a day earlier, decided to do what he’s done a lot this season — use the athletic ability he displayed last spring in track and field to go make a football play.
“We had a (pass) play on the backside for Dayton,” said Rollins, who finished with five catches for 118 yards. “I saw Ruhnke scramble out so I just took off. I saw I was open down the field, so I thought, ‘Maybe he sees me.’ He saw me, took steps and just lobbed it up for me. I just outjumped them.”
The two scores on consecutive snaps suddenly gave Platte County a 14-7 lead with 7:19 left before halftime.
Grain Valley briefly halted the surge, responding to the wild highlight-reel play with a touchdown. The Eagles benefitted from a facemask penalty on a third down that kept the drive alive, and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Bosserman to a wide-open Logan Pratt made it 14-14 and leaving just 2:24 before halftime.
Platte County had enough time for another score — even under increasingly bizarre and challenging circumstances.
Immediately facing a third down, Ruhnke converted with an 11-yard completion over the middle to Maccuish. The Pirates took a timeout and then exploitied a ba play in coverage with Phan hauling in one of three receptions on a wheel route for a 37-yard gain. However, officials flagged Phan for unsportsmanlike conduct after he rolled out of bounds with Grain Valley senior Gavin Oyler, who appeared to maintain the action of his tackle well out of bounds. Phan jumped up and pitched the ball into Oyler’s chest after the play to draw the flag.
Ruhnke scrambled out of bounds for 6 yards on the next snap but then drew an intentional grounding penalty that made it third and 16 from the 31 with 22 seconds left. The clock started to run after officials marked off the penalty, and the snap didn’t come until only a few seconds remained — not a part of the original plan. All of the time was gone by the time Ruhnke uncorked his third touchdown of the half to Rollins.
“Where I was at, instead of calling the timeout, I thought we’d get the play off. Get that play off and then maybe get one more is what I was going with,” Utz said. “We kind of got in no man’s land and had to go with it.”
Platte County was in the lead for good.
After not throwing for 100 yards in either of the last two district wins, Ruhnke finished 17-for-23 with 268 yards and most importantly no interceptions. He added 30 yards on five scrambles, including some uncharacteristic but increasingly common tuck-and-runs in big spots.
“Chris played great,” Utz said. “He’s shown signs of the form he showed tonight, but I thought he stepped up and made the game his own. He was a very good game manager, and at the same time, he made plays when we needed him to.”
Ruhnke entered the season following a trio of quarterbacks at Platte County with all-state credentials in Justin Mitchell, Tanner Clarkson and Spencer Stewart. Of that group, only Clarkson and now Ruhnke have led the Pirates to playoff appearances.
“I learned a lot from Spencer and Tanner, growing up as a quarterback under them,” Ruhnke said.
Platte County is 3-3 all-time in the state semifinals. The Pirates went to four straight from 1999-2002, including three straight unbeaten Class 3A/3 state championships in the final three years of that run. They also lost to Harrisonville in a 2005 Class 3 semifinal.
Having changed classification and conference since then, Platte County advances to the semifinals in Class 4 for just the second time, and the matchup with St. Mary’s provides an opportunity for this year’s group to write a new first for the program and reach the Show-Me Bowl for the first time since 2002. The Pirates have celebrated successes like a blowout of rival Kearney, the comeback against Grain Valley and the regular season/district two-game sweep of Smithville. They’ve also endured downs like the second-half collapse in a loss to Class 5 Park Hill South, a blowout at the hands of Class 6 semifinalist Raymore-Peculiar and the potential demoralization of entering the postseason off of a defeat that denied them the first outright Blue Division title in program history.
Not a star-studded lineup but a hard-working, cohesive collective, Platte County knew the path into and through the playoffs — one that had obvious upside. The Pirates have had talented teams come up well short of this point playing against solid competition in loaded brackets, and with those disappointments a part of the recent past, there will be no apologies for earning this spot — especially with a berth in the state championship game now in sight.
“Early on, the way the bracket set up, we knew that if we took care of ourselves in district we would at least have this opportunity,” Utz said. “They took advantage of that opportunity and were able to put up a nice game, and we’re moving on to the semifinals.”