The Platte County football team delivered in the clutch once again in a playoff thriller on Nov. 21, riding a seven-touchdown outburst from senior quarterback Rocco Marriott with junior linebacker Hank Fowler forcing a pair of late turnovers to outlast Grain Valley 46–33 in a rainy state quarterfinal win that featured five lead changes and more than 800 yards of offense.
Marriott passed for five touchdowns, but the most consequential score came with his legs. Trailing 32-31 with the clock ticking under four minutes remaining, the Pirates were desperate for a score, but held confidence knowing they had been doing so much of the night.
Facing a fourth-and-2 from the Grain Valley 33-yard line, the Pirates turned to their star quarterback for a much-needed conversion, and he delivered and then some. Marriott took the snap and ran to the left, allowing tight end Brooks Hall to make a block. After escaping one tackle, Marriott secured the first down before running back Adam Gisler laid out another block before Marriott drove through contact near the goal line.
As Marriott got to the goal line, he was stripped, fumbling the ball out of the end zone. It could have turned into a touchback or Grain Valley, but no initial call was made by the officials. After a lengthy conference, they raised their arms to indicate a touchdown, ruling that he broke the plane before fumbling.
Platte County went up 40-33 after converting the 2-point conversion on a pass to Hall. The Pirates turned their hopes over to their defense, which had struggled to stop the Eagles’ run game.
After a 16-yard carry gave Grain Valley a first down, junior defensive end Brody Hawk dropped an Eagles run for a loss of four yards. Facing second-and-14, Grain Valley turned to its quarterback to make a play, but Hawk came off the edge again to deflect the pass into the air before Fowler grabbed it for an interception.
Platte County junior linebacker Hank Fowler, left, celebrates with senior offensive lineman Lucas Dillingham, right, after forcing a fumble in the fourth quarter against Grain Valley.
“Really priceless,” Fowler said. “We needed that one stop to win us the game. Just a really happy moment to get that stop and hear that crowd go wild, letting them know that we’re advancing to the next week.”
Platte County brought a blitz, which Fowler was preparing for a screen pass. Once Hawk tipped the pass, Fowler caught the ball and ran it 24 yards before being tackled at Grain Valley’s 6-yard line.
Cale Buntz recovers a fumble late in Platte County’s quarterfinal victory against Grain Valley.
With an opportunity to ice the game, Platte County took advantage with a touchdown carry from Marriott. The Pirates had one final statement for the Eagles when Fowler forced a fumble on a run play, which was recovered by Cale Buntz.
“That was a classic win and advance,” Platte County head coach Bill Utz said. “As long as you do what you gotta do, that’s all that really matters.”
Platte County overcame some difficult moments, giving Grain Valley 89 yards on 12 penalties, but they repeatedly struck in explosive chunks, producing five touchdowns of 20 yards or more.
Tres Baskerville scored both of Platte County’s first-half touchdowns against Grain Valley.
Grain Valley countered behind a big night from junior running back Dawson Head, who carried 31 times for 195 yards and all four Eagle rushing touchdowns, including scoring bursts of 28, 53, 14, and 1 yard. His early score put the Eagles ahead 7–0, but Platte County answered immediately when Marriott hit Tres Baskerville on a 35-yard strike to tie the game late in the first quarter.
The second quarter included both teams turning the ball over on downs, but the Pirates managed to jump in front for the first time just before halftime. A six-play drive was capped with another Marriott-to-Baskerville connection, this time from four yards out to give Platte County a 14–7 halftime lead.
Braiden Stevens tallied 146 yards with two second-half touchdowns against Grain Valley.
The game erupted after the break. Head’s 53-yard sprint tied it 14–14 early into the third quarter, but Platte County needed only one play to respond. After not seeing anything open to his left, Marriott innovated by scrambling to his right and finding Braiden Stevens on a slant as the senior receiver took it 71 yards to the house for the Pirates to jump ahead 20-14 before the point-after try was blocked.
Grain Valley tied the game again at 20–20 behind Head’s third score on a 14-yard run through the middle, but the Pirates denied the Eagles of the lead by blocking the extra point. Once again, Platte County supplied a response as Marriott and Stevens teamed up on four receptions and a 20-yard touchdown reception to restore the lead at 26-20 midway through the third quarter after the Pirates missed the 2-point conversion.
The Eagles chewed up some clock on a 12-play drive to briefly jump ahead 27–26 after Head’s fourth touchdown and the ensuing PAT early in the fourth quarter. Grain Valley appeared to be edging closer to a big fourth-quarter stop before Ty Christopher broke past his defender in single coverage on third-and-11 to catch a 53-yard touchdown pass to put the visitors ahead 32-27.
Grain Valley regained a 33–32 lead on a touchdown from Cohen Morris to Terell King. Then, the Pirates came up big in the clutch with three straight scoring drives with the assistance of a pair of turnovers to finally create some separation.
Marriott’s 33-yard touchdown run gave the Pirates a 38–33 advantage, and after Fowler’s interception, the quarterback capped the night with a 5-yard keeper to seal a second straight come-from-behind victory.
“Just cause we haven’t done it a lot in the last couple of years doesn’t mean it’s not instilled in them,” Utz said. “Those opportunities were there, and when they needed to drive, they went and got one.”
Platte County head coach Bill Utz has coached back-to-back comeback victories in the fourth quarter.
The Pirates finished with 429 total yards, highlighted by a 16-of-21 passing line for 256 yards from Marriott. Grain Valley rushed for 271 yards on 49 attempts, but a pair of late turnovers kept the Eagles from striking back in the final minutes.
“We love it when they all play together, and they all play well, but sometimes that doesn’t happen,” Utz said. “In this case, the defense couldn't quite get to that spot, which is fine because the offense had their backs.”
Platte County knew Grain Valley was going to bring a heavy run game, which came to fruition with Head leading the way with just shy of 200 yards on the ground. Fowler knows the defense didn’t play its best, but was happy that Marriott and the Pirates’ offense kept giving the defense opportunities to make a stop.
“Rocco (Marriott) had us all night,” Fowler said. “Even when we couldn’t get stops, Rocco was putting us in great positions. That final one, pushing it in and letting us know that he’s got us.”
With the victory, Platte County advances to the state semifinal for the fifth time since 2017, stretching its winning streak to 26 games.
The Pirates will visit the St. Louis area next week for their state semifinal challenge, where they will meet Kirkwood for the Class 5 semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 1 p.m. Kirkwood, coached by former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, is in their first season as a Class 5 team after finishing last year as a state semifinalist in Class 6.
“We’ve got to put a little bit more prep in because we haven’t seen them, we don’t know anything about them other than what we’ve looked at from afar,” Utz said. “We’re in a situation where we’ll kind of have to figure that out as we go, but our approach will be similar. Anytime that we get to practice and prep for a game on Thanksgiving week, that means we’re doing something right.”