WESTON – Weeklong homecoming festivities ended on a high note for the West Platte football team (2-2) who survived a second half comeback bid by University Academy Charter (3-1) with a 25-22 victory on Sept. 15.
West Platte senior Dominic Williams ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns in the Blue Jays’ 25-22 win over University Academy on Sept. 15.
This was just the second meeting between the teams since 2009 as University Academy eliminated West Platte in the 2021 Class 1 District 3 Semifinals. The Blue Jays got revenge from the postseason loss, albeit two seasons later.
“Offensively we were a bit sloppy at times but still managed a very balanced attack against a good defense,” West Platte head football coach Jim Newsted said. “It’s always good when the homecoming team wins. I’m proud of my kids and my staff.”
West Platte reached the red zone in each of its first three possessions but failed to get into the end zone in two of the trips. On the second drive, Cohen Kite brought in a 27-yard pass to the Gryphons 5-yard-line and Dominic Williams ran in for a touchdown on the next play as the Blue Jays led 6-0 midway through the first quarter.
“Their play allowed our defense to be very aggressive on the inside. We held them to only 57 yards rushing,” Newsted said.
University Academy struggled on offense early, having just three total yards of offense and -10 yards of penalties with right around two minutes left in the first quarter. Facing a 2nd and long at their own 7-yard-line, Gryphon backup quarterback Joseph Carter tossed the ball to Quincy Jones behind the line of scrimmage and the senior took it to the house.
Lynn Fletcher ran in for the 2-point conversion and University Academy led 8-6 with 1:52 left in the quarter. West Platte turned the ball over on its next two possessions but forced a punt and put together a long scoring drive.
The Blue Jays ran on nine straight plays for 63 total yards – 33 by Williams and 30 by Dalton Woodward – before a dropped third down snap led to a 4th and long where Kane Cogan connected with Blaze Masoner for a big first down. Woodward ran to the goal line on the next play and after a fumbled snap, Williams punched it in for another touchdown on 3rd and goal.
West Platte came up short on the 2-point conversion and retook a 12-8 lead on a 14-play, 84-yard scoring drive. Kite – who plays wide receiver and corner back – came down with his second interception of the first half less than a minute later and returned it to the Gryphons 19-yard-line.
Williams had a touchdown run called back on a holding penalty so West Platte had to do it through the air. Cogan found Masoner for a 23-yard score to put the Blue Jays ahead 18-8 with 1:07 until halftime.
West Platte forced another punt and got the ball back with 34 seconds on the clock. Alex Allison nearly converted on a 44-yard field goal attempt, but the kick hit the bottom bar of the goal post and bounced into the end zone.
Williams found the end zone once again in the third quarter and West Platte extended its lead to 25-16. University Academy responded with a 66-yard touchdown run, along with a 2-point conversion in the third quarter.
With right under 11 minutes left in the game, the Gryphons scored on a 23-yard pass but failed on the 2-point conversion. That made the score 25-22 and West Platte went on to survive, moving to 2-1 at home on the season.
“I was proud of the turn around the team showed after last week’s loss to Mid-Buch. University likes to get the ball outside on the perimeter. Will Shafer and Gunner Smith did a great job bottling up their offense and squeezing the field on their backfield,” Newsted said.
Masoner brought in seven catches for 94 yards and a touchdown, while Kite had four receptions for 65 yards. Williams ran the ball 25 times, broke 100 yards and added three scores as Woodward had 65 rushing yards on 16 attempts.
Jhett Chandler led the Blue Jays with six solo tackles and four assisted, while Shafer and Smith both had five tackles each. West Platte will search for its first KCI Conference win of the year on the road against Lawson (0-4) on Sept. 22.