ST. LOUIS — Defensive reps for junior Dayton Mitchell have been limited this season, but fortunately, he catches on quick.
Injuries and reshuffling have forced Mitchell — mostly known as Platte County’s leading wide receiver — to play both sides of the ball at times during a playoff run. In the deciding moment of the Pirates’ Class 4 semifinal vs. St. Mary’s on Saturday, Nov. 30, he found himself at cornerback running stride for stride with a big-play wide receiver.
Mitchell immediately thought back to a lesson learned from teammates, while going up to knock down a fourth and 17 throw that secured a 15-14 win for Platte County at Kresko-Miller Field.
“Man, first time getting beat deep in practice, it was a little sketch,” Mitchell said. “It was literally the same exact play we ran in practice, and I didn’t feel for (the receiver). I got burnt deep. I knew what I had to do and just focused on that. I was just hoping there wasn’t a flag.”
Mitchell caught a pair of touchdown passes in the first half from junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke to help Platte County build a 12-0 lead, and senior kicker Grant Allen’s 26-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter provided the final lead change after unranked St. Mary’s (11-3) briefly forged a lead in its upset bid.
Forced to make one final stand, Mitchell batted down a desperation pass from St. Mary’s senior quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy intended for sophomore speedster Kevin Coleman, and the Pirates were able to kneel out the final 1 minute, 4 seconds. A completion or penalty would’ve put the Dragons in position for a potential winning field goal or touchdown.
Instead, Platte County (11-3) ran out the clock to secure a spot in the Class 4 Show-Me Bowl for the first time in program history, and the Pirates will be seeking their first state championship since winning the third of three straight Class 3A/3 titles from 2000-2002.
Platte County has won five straight since suffering an upset loss to Grandview in the regular season finale that forced a shared title in the Suburban Conference Blue Division. The Pirates have advanced all the way to play dynastic Webb City (13-1) in this Friday’s Class 4 state championship game scheduled for 7 p.m. at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. The two teams most recently met in a 2017 semifinal at Webb City that the Cardinals held on to win 21-18 on the way to a state-record tying 14th state title.
TODD NUGENT/Citizen photo
Platte County defensive end Garrett Watson (46) hugs Derek Yost in the final seconds of a Class 4 semifinal game that Platte County won 15-14 against St. Mary’s in St. Louis. In the background in assistant coach Jamar Parrish. Platte City plays for the Class 4 title against Webb City at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 in Columbia, Mo.
This marks Platte County’s sixth straight winning season and third in a row with at least 10 wins, providing perhaps a seminal moment for coach Bill Utz in his successful tenure. He joined legendary coach Chip Sherman’s staff as an assistant in 2005 and took over as head coach in 2008, enduring three losing seasons while taking the Pirates into the Suburban Conference and up to Class 4.
Platte County has again become a power but endured tough losses in recent years to Kearney, Smithville and Webb City that have stunted the Pirates’ postseason success.
“This means a tremendous amount. This program obviously has an unbelievably rich tradition,” Utz said. “I’m pretty proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish, and I say we with a capital we because my coaches are amazing and do tremendous work, and the players have bought into what we do. We’ve had some heartbreaking losses, but we’ve had a nice run the last four, five, six years. We’ve lost to some really good teams so to finally get over that and get to this game and now have the chance to play another really, really good team? It’s not over yet.
“We obviously cherish the moment to get here, but we know we have our hands extremely full (with Webb City).”
The state title game berth didn’t come easy thanks to two strong drives from St. Mary’s on back-to-back possessions on either side of halftime.
Platte County’s offense committed a pair of costly turnovers, missed three first half field goals and botched an extra point to provide an opening. The second of McCoy’s touchdown passes gave the Dragons a 14-12 lead with 6:53 left in the third quarter, only to have the Pirates immediately respond with the game-winning points.
On a 12-play drive, Ruhnke had two of his three completions to junior wide receiver Colby Rollins and one each to Mitchell and senior wide receiver Hunter Clarkson. Eventually, the Pirates faced a fourth and 7, and Allen hit an apparent 31-yard field goal.
Instead, a dead-ball offsides penalty on St. Mary’s forced Allen to retry, and he stepped up and hit a 26-yarder after he missed attempts from 34, 46 and 47 yards in the first half.
“You could tell at halftime he was frustrated a little bit with his performance,” Utz said of his kicker, who missed last week’s game helping Platte County’s soccer team to a state runnerup finish but had three field goals in both district semifinal and final wins over Smithville and Lincoln Prep. “A kid like that — especially in a situation where we had to have it — I had the utmost confidence in him. He actually kicks better under pressure, and he definitely proved it on that one. It was a big kick.”
Outside of the two touchdown drives for St. Mary’s, Platte County regularly pressured McCoy and limited a previously high-scoring offense to just 253 yards of offense. The Dragons held possession three times with a chance to take the lead after Allen’s field goal but all three drives were quickly snuffed out.
The teams traded three-and-outs, and the first full possession of the fourth quarter belonged to Platte County’s defensive line. Pirates senior defensive end Garret Watson snuffed out a trick play on first down, dragging down wide receiver Caron Spann for an 8-yard loss before he could throw to a wide-open receiver down the field. Watson then provided pressure on a potential screen play on second down, forcing McCoy to throw the ball at his running back’s feet. On third down, Platte County junior defensive end Forrest Boynton tracked down McCoy for a key sack that forced another punt.
“Just playing with the game on the line puts me into another gear, and I’m just out there ready to go,” said Watson, credited with 2½ sacks in the game to put him within 1½ of Michael Smith’s single season record of 17½ set in 2017. “The field goal putting us up one point really helped drive us to play even harder than we had been. We had to hold that lead.”
Platte County then held possession for more than 6 minutes and reached the St. Mary’s 37 before an untimely holding call forced the Pirates to punt the ball away with 2:25 to go in regulation. The Dragons gained a pair of first downs before Watson recorded a sack for a 7-yard loss, and they opted to spiked the ball on second down to avoid using their final timeout. Pirates sophomore linebacker Trevor Scott (two tackles, one for loss) broke up and nearly intercepted the third down pass, setting up the decisive fourth and 17.
On the play, Mitchell found himself one-on-one down the field with Coleman, who had the 35-yard catch and run touchdown to give St. Mary’s the 14-12 lead and finished with seven receptions for 92 yards. Mitchell’s pass breakup inside the Pirates’ 20 set off a celebration on the Platte County sideline, and three kneeldowns ran out the clock.
“I saw him throw the ball. I turn and see Dayton running up from behind,” said Watson, who had a team-high seven tackles. “I see him jump up in the air and swat it to the ground, and it’s just joy running through your body. It’s a great feeling.”
Platte County senior linebacker Gabe Harmon and junior cornerback Collin Tyson had five tackles apiece, while senior safety Trent Rueckert added four. Mitchell, senior safety Will Hay, junior safety Spencer Cupp and junior defensive tackle Alex Stearns had three apiece.
Solid run defense limited St. Mary’s sophomore running back DeShawn Fuller to 85 yards on the ground after he rushed for more than 200 in a quarterfinal win over Farmington. That allowed the rotating defensive line of Watson, Boynton, Stearns, senior defensive end James Gladden and junior nose tackle Keaton Smith to consistently pressure McCoy with help from blitzing linebackers in Scott and Harmon.
Platte County has not allowed more than 21 points in any of five postseason wins
“They were so explosive and able to move it and score at any time,” Utz said. “Controlling the clock was so important. The quarterback was making some good throws under a lot of pressure. We knew we had to get pressure on him and make him move around a bit, and he still made some good throws.”
The defense came up big time and time again, starting early in the game.
St. Mary’s had the first big break in the game with a sack and forced fumble to take possession at Platte County’s 30 late in the first quarter. The Pirates held, and Watson and Harmon combined on a fourth down sack to return possession to their offense.
TODD NUGENT/Citizen photo
Platte County running back Cayden Davis, center, looks for running room as St. Mary’s Diamond Casseus (6) moves toward him during a Class 4 semifinal game on Saturday, Nov. 30 in St. Louis. Davis’ teammate, Hunter Clarkson (84) is providing a block on the play.
Two plays later, Ruhnke found Mitchell on an out route in the left flat, and he broke the initial tackle attempt from senior Tim Muxo before racing 71 yards for a touchdown. The conversion failed after a botched snap on the kick attempt led to an impromptu pass, but the Pirates led 6-0.
“I was gone,” said Mitchell, reemerged as the top target for Ruhnke after Rollins had three touchdown catches in the first half of a quick quarterfinal comeback win over Grain Valley.
St. Mary’s had myriad of drive-killing penalties in the first half, and on the first play of the second quarter lost a fumble when Gladden sacked and stripped McCoy with Mitchell falling on the loose ball. That drive started in the Dragons’ territory and ended with a missed field goal but effectively flipped the field position battle for the Pirates.
“Our pass rush is insane, and it’s what won us this week,” said Gladden, who has moved between defensive end and defensive tackle this year and now has nine sacks on the season. “Everybody on our D-line is a dog. We all can get after it. That’s what makes our D-line so vicious and so special. Everyone is experienced and gets after it.”
Platte County eventually took a 12-0 lead when Ruhnke, who finished 14 of 26 for 206 yards, lofted a wobbly pass down the middle of the field that Mitchell hauled in for a 27-yard touchdown to cap a quick 51-yard scoring drive. After a failed two-point conversion pass, the Pirates led 12-0 with 6:02 left before halftime.
“It wasn’t really the route I was supposed to run, but I kind of gave Chris a look and he saw me,” said Mitchell, who finished with team-highs of six catches for 125 yards and moved to 63 for 970 and 10 touchdowns on the year.
St. Mary’s responded with a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 12-7 before halftime.
Platte County nearly added points late in the second quarter, but Ruhnke and Mitchell just missed on their third touchdown and Allen missed a 47-yard field goal on the final play of the half. The Pirates took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and marched into the red zone on big chunk plays from junior running back Cayden Davis (29 carries, 137 yards) before he lost a fumble at the 16.
St. Mary’s put up its second touchdown around the long missed field goal before halftime and Platte County’s second turnover. Suddenly in the lead, the Dragons’ next two drives went -10 yards before the short and unsuccessful 2-minute drill on their final possession.
“Whenever it’s this type of atmosphere — I say it a lot — it’s all about physicality,” Watson said. “We had a couple of drives where we had some mental mistakes, but we got our heads back on and kept playing physical with great effort. Physicality and effort wins football games.”
Davis topped 100 yards on the ground for the third time in Platte County’s past five games to go over 1,000 on the season, while senior running back Trey Phan rushed just three times for 4 yards after splitting carries fairly evenly most of the season. The run game behind an offensive line of seniors Max Renner (right tackle), Wyett Wallingford (right guard), Luke Seigel (center) and Kevin Fagan (left guard) and junior Trey Butcher (left tackle) was key to limiting the possessions for St. Mary’s, which had not scored fewer than 18 during a nine-game winning streak that also included a forfeit.
Ruhnke spread out his completions between Mitchell, Rollins (three for 32 yards), Clarkson (two for 32 yards), Davis (two for 16 yards) and Fagan, the offensive guard who alertly hauled in a 1-yard catch on a batted ball on the final drive.
Platte County actually didn’t punt until the two drives after the winning field goal but stalled again at times in the red zone.
“You take away three missed field goals; there’s some points,” Utz said. “We had more turnovers than we’re used to in costly situations, so yeah, we didn’t punt but sometimes that’s not the best thing. Obviously, our defense played well and that helped us to not lose control of that game.”
The combination was just enough for Platte County to earn its return to a state championship game scenario. The Pirates have had the talent in recent years but have fully taken all circumstances this season to author another program-first with more potential history to make this weekend.
Platte County’s large senior class includes an eclectic mix of talent. Hard-working program products like Harmon, Hay, Rueckert, Seigel, Clarkson, Phan and wide receivers Donny Maccuish and Cam Scheib. A local transferred back home in Wallingford. A freshman standout back after a two-year hiatus in Fagan. Key reserves like Walker Grimes, Gunner Tongate, Johnathan Owen, Lewis Hunter and Traizen McCown. Three-year starters like Renner and Watson — the only holdovers who were consistently on the field for the Webb City heartbreak in 2017. The list goes on to Allen, Carston Jumps, Rickey Cal, David Pecha and Justin Snyder.
Regardless of the path to the roster, Platte County’s players know how special this opportunity will be.
TODD NUGENT/Citizen photo
Platte County defensive back Dayton Mitchell (9) blocks a pass intended for St. Mary’s wide receiver Kevin Coleman on what was the final defensive play of a Class 4 semifinal game on Saturday, Nov. 30 in St. Louis. The play came on fourth down and gave the Pirates the ball back to kneel out a 15-14 victory to send them to the state title game.
“I didn’t grow up in Platte City so never did I think I’d play for this program because I didn’t know about Platte County growing up,” said Gladden, who played some varsity at linebacker as a junior in his first year with the program before finding a home this season on the defensive line. “But as soon as I moved here, I realized it’s a hidden gem. Last time we played them, I wasn’t here, but I know for a fact we had many chances to win that game. They know what was up; they know what’s going to be up. We’re not just going to lay over.
“We’re not intimidated, so we need to put our faith in each other.”