Platte County finally found the answer to creating more consistency in its prolific passing game: a steady dose of Adel Freitek on the ground.
Raytown South couldn’t find an answer for the senior running back, and the Pirates pulled away for a 57-22 win Friday, Sept. 21 at Pirate Stadium. Platte County senior quarterback Spencer Stewart threw four touchdowns for a second straight week, but Freitek rolled up a career-high 225 rushing yards on 26 carries.
Freitek now has back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time in his career after totaling just one in 2017 when led Platte County in rushing while splitting duties as the feature back.
“It’s got to be making it easier (on Spencer),” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “When we run the ball like that, it allows us to score those points. I don’t know what he ran for, but the offensive line did a nice job of opening some things up. By (Freitek) doing that, now the defense has to worry about the run game, and that creates some one-on-one matchups that we like.”
Freitek looked decisive and used his elusive cutting ability to gash Raytown South’s defense in big chunks.
Platte County (4-1) continued to use a reshuffled offensive line with senior Glen Gammill moved over from left tackle to center. While senior tackle Reid Sutter and junior Max Renner remain in place on the right side for the Pirates, 6-foot-5, 285-pound junior Wyett Wallingford shifted from guard to tackle, while junior Luke Seigel — the starting center the first four weeks — and sophomore Trey Butcher split time at tackle.
With the moves, Platte County continues to bolster the interior push, allowing Freitek to thrive where he runs best: between the tackles.
“We made the shift, and there was no complaining — nothing. We all understood,” said Sutter, a two-year starter at right tackle. “It’s working.”
Freitek ran for three more touchdowns, bringing his season total to nine in five games, and the first midway through the first quarter assured Platte County wouldn’t trail, thanks to an impromptu two-point conversion for junior safety Will Hay.
Raytown South (1-4) did answer each of the Pirates’ first two touchdowns and did tie the score at 15-15 with a two-point conversion. The Cardinals benefitted from 15-yard penalties on each of their three scoring drives but were held scoreless for the final 15:24 as Platte County induced a running clock for the final 40 seconds of regulation.
Platte County junior linebacker and junior safety Trent Rueckert led the Pirates with six tackles apiece, working to limit a Raytown South running game that featured a variety of looks. The Pirates also recorded five total sacks — two for senior defensive lineman Peyton Stoner, one each for Harmon and freshman linebacker Trevor Scott and sophomore defensive lineman Alex Stearns and senior linebacker Nathan Martinez split one.
Raytown South finished with just 249 yards of offense
“Just keep grinding, just keep getting stops,” Stoner said. “They had a couple of big plays, a couple of luck things, just didn’t fall our way. We just kept working, kept getting stops, kept playing hard.
“We made some corrections at halftime, and I thought we played a lot better after half.”
While Freitek finished Platte County’s first two scoring drives with short touchdown runs, the Pirates took the lead for good on a tackle-breaking 31-yard touchdown on a catch and run for senior wide receiver Dylan Gilbert for the first of Stewart’s four touchdown passes. After a quick stop for the defense, Freitek ran 19 yards before Stewart hit wide open senior wide receiver Brice Bertram for a 19-yard touchdown on a two-play, 17-second scoring drive.
The momentum remained when sophomore cornerback Collin Tyson picked off a pass in the final 1:01 before half, but the Pirates settled for a 29-15 lead at halftime.
Raytown South attempted an onside kick to start the second half, but Platte County recovered and quickly marched down the field on Freitek runs of 21, 4 and 7 yards. Bertram scored again on a 9-yard pass from Stewart to make it 36-15.
Raytown South’s final touchdown drive came later in the third quarter to cut it back to 14 points before attempting another onside kick. Just like the first, Platte County junior reserve Lewis Hunter recovered to stifle any hopes of a quick comeback.
“Huge, huge,” Utz said. “They get that back, there’s still some momentum there and opportunity. Those were big, really big. He did a nice job.”
Freitek added his third rushing touchdown on the ensuring drive — a second 1-yarder. Stewart capped his day with a 4-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Payton Maggart early in the fourth quarter, and Pirates sophomore running back Cayden Davis finish the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run in the final minute. He finished with a career-high 96 yards rushing on 14 carries in relief of Freitek.
Platte County rolled up more than 500 yards in a second straight Suburban Conference Blue Division win since a loss to Class 4 No. 3-ranked Kearney.
Stewart went 19-for-31 for 198 yards and just one interception to build on his nearly 400-yard turnover-plagued showing the week before in a win against Grain Valley. Bertram (eight catches for 79 yards) and Gilbert (six catches for 64 yards) continued to be the main targets.
The wins over Grain Valley and Raytown South set up a second intriguing top-10 league matchup of the season. Smithville, a former KCI and Midland Empire conference foe, joined the Suburban League this year to guarantee again an annual regular season game with Platte County in a rivalry that dates all the way back to 1912. The teams have met almost every year in recent years anyway with Platte County a winner in three straight Class 4 District 8 matchups between the two since the Warriors last won in the series in 2014.
“It’s always fun,” Sutter said, “especially Smithville. There’s a lot of rivalry between our schools.”
Ranked No. 6 in Class 4, Platte County needs a win to keep any hopes alive of a split Blue Division title with Smithville (5-0) currently ranked No. 7.
The outcome will also help shake up the current District 8 standings. Currently, Smithville holds the No. 2 spot, while Platte County is second — just barely in front of unbeaten Excelsior Springs (5-0) in third. Surprisingly, Kearney currently sits at No. 4 with a 4-1 record, the only blemish a loss to Class 5 No. 1-ranked Staley.