West Platte earned a key victory in determining its spot in the Class 1 District 7 standings with a chance to lock up the No. 2 seed this weekend. With a 48-12 win against Mid-Buchanan on Friday, Oct. 2, the Bluejays leapfrogged the Dragons for the No. 2 spot. West Platte quarterback Brett Shepardson threw for two touchdowns and ran for three more at Rudolph Eskeridge Stadium in Weston, Mo. — the Bluejays final home game of the season.
West Platte (3-4, 2-3 KCI Conference) won for the second time in three weeks with a matchup against Plattsburg (1-6, 0-5) looming Friday, Oct. 9. Currently, Plattsburg is the No. 4 seed behind No. 3 Mid-Buchanan and No. 2 West Platte, and a Tigers win could further jumble the final order.
Plattsburg beat West Platte twice last season, including in the District 7 title game. A West Platte win on Friday would lock up the second spot, even with a road trip to Lawson left in the Friday, Oct. 16 regular season finale.
West Platte continued its trend of high-scoring wins.
After trailing 6-0, the Bluejays took the lead for good on first quarter touchdown runs from Justin Rhodes (1 yard) and Shepardson (42). Mid-Buchanan closed within 14-12 on Stetson Brant’s 10-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter, but West Platte scored twice more before the half to take a commanding 28-12 lead.
Shepardson accounted for both of the touchdowns before half on runs of 74 and 9 yards. He finished with a team-high 152 yards on 16 carries.
In the second half, Shepardson sandwiched two of his three completions around a 55-yard touchdown run for fullback Kyle Tabaka. Shepardson, who went 3-for-5 passing for 128 yards, hit Rhodes for a 58-yard score in the third quarter and added a 64-yard touchdown to wide receiver Alec Carson to cap off the scoring.
Tabaka finished with 59 yards on two carries and another 5 yards on one catch. Rhodes ran for 51 yards on 15 carries.
Mid-Buchanan (4-3, 2-3) failed to score after halftime and ended up with 251 yards of offense. The Dragons have lost three of their last four with the only win in that stretch coming by a score of 20-14 against Plattsburg the previous week.