The Platte County Pirates’ football team will play for the Missouri Class 5 Championship this Saturday, Dec. 7, at Faurot Field on the campus of the University of Missouri after beating MICDS 44-30 in the Class 5 semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 30, at Pirate Stadium.
Head Coach Bill Utz will be leading the Pirates to the championship game for the third time. Utz was emotional after the game, talking about his team and the support it has received from the community this season. Utz was particularly moved when talking about the several dozen parents and fans who showed up hours before the game to shovel snow from the field.
A joyful Head Coach Bill Utz addresses his team after the game. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
“It’s humbling to see a community do that,” Utz said while holding back some tears. “And then to come out and do what we did, it’s amazing, our community is awesome. I’m glad we get to go celebrate one more week.”
The Pirate defense set the tone for the game early, forcing a fumble on the first possession of the game giving the ball to the offense at the Rams’ 18-yard line. Two plays later, junior quarterback Rocco Marriott scored on a five-yard touchdown run. MICDS was able to block the extra point kick, but the Pirates led 6-0 less than two minutes into the game.
Disaster struck again on the Rams’ next drive, with Platte County coming up with another fumble, this time at the Rams’ 39-yard line. Marriott would find Braiden Stevens for a nine-yard touchdown pass. Marriott would call his own number on a good two-point conversion and a 14-0.
Platte County junior Cole Johnson recovered a Rams fumble in the first quarter. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
The Pirates had a chance to bust the game open early when senior defensive back Montez Clemons forced a fumble that was scooped up by junior defensive lineman Cale Buntz and returned to the Rams’ one-yard line. However, the Rams’ defense stepped up and forced a Platte County fumble near the goal line that was recovered by MICDS.
Platte County senior Montez Clemons separated the ball from the Rams’ quarterback. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
The Rams were able to move the ball into Pirate territory in the second quarter but had to settle for a field goal attempt that was good from 34 yards to get the Rams on the board. The Pirates responded on their next possession when Marriott found Lane Webb for a 20-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-3 with the kick.
The Rams got their first big play when quarterback Brian Gould found his tall receiver Henry Rohan on a 49-yard pass play. The kick was good, and the Pirates’ lead was cut to 21-10, and that’s where it would be at halftime.
The Pirates extended the lead to three touchdowns with a one-yard touchdown run by senior Dayton Doll and a 36-yard field goal by Jackson Goodale.
Not wanting the season to end, the Rams responded in the fourth quarter with a four-yard touchdown run by Gould, but the Pirate offense answered with its own touchdown drive on a one-yard run by Marriott. The Rams would get the game back to two scores when Gould found Rohan again, this time on a 74-yard pass play on its next possession to cut Platte County’s lead back to two scores.
With more than six minutes left in the game, the Pirates put the game away when senior Adam Gisler, who had a total of 101 yards on 18 carries to lead the Pirates, scored on a 31-yard run to extend the lead back to three scores and it bled almost five minutes off the clock. MICDS got a garbage-time touchdown in the last minute to make the score closer. Utz said it was nice to see his offense put the game away at the end.
Platte County senior Adam Gisler rushed for 101 yards on 18 carries and the game sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
“That was a huge drive for us,” Utz said. “We knew we needed to get some time off because they did have a little bit of momentum on some big plays. For our offense to get a big drive and score off of it was really what kind of drained it out.”
Utz also acknowledged that his defense made things a lot easier on the offense with short fields.
“They’ve been doing it all year,” Utz said about the defense. “They’re a bunch of great players, and they did a great job. I thought complementary football was played. I couldn’t be happier.”
Platte County quarterback Rocco Marriott broke through a defender on a two-point conversion run in the first quarter. DENNIS SHARKEY/Citizen Photo
Marriott carried the ball nine times for 56 yards and two touchdowns. Doll carried the ball nine times for 27 yards and caught two passes for 15 yards. Marriott also completed 14 of 21 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. Tres Baskerville led the receivers with four catches for 66 yards, followed by Stevens with three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown. Ty Christopher, Gisler, Webb, Jack Utz, and Brooks Hall each caught a pass. Trevor Hay and Brock Fowler each had an interception of Gould.
Utz will be leading the Pirates to his third championship game but will be looking for his first win in the championship game as the head coach after leading Platte County to the final game of the season in back-to-back seasons in 2019-20.
