Platte County rallied from 27 points down to knock off previously unbeaten Smithville in a battle of top 10 teams in Class 4 on Friday night in Smithville.
The Pirates were held scoreless in the first half and Smithville appeared to be in cruise control when they scored their fourth touchdown of the night just minutes into the second half.
However, Platte County (5-1) refused to go away and began a furious comeback on the next drive.
Pirates’ QB Spencer Stewart found Dylan Gilbert in the back of the end zone to get the visitors on the board with 8:43 left in the third.
Platte County’s defense then came up big as Omar Garcia recovered a fumble at the 6:15 mark. Just 30 seconds later, Stewart hit Brice Bertram for a 45-yard TD strike to pull the Pirates with 13 (27-14).
The momentum remained on the visitors’ side as Stewart threw for his third score of the night with 10:59 left in the game. Adel Freitek caught the ball in the flat and ran it in from 22 yards out to cut the lead to 27-21.
Smithville tried to put the game away but missed a field goal with 4:17 left and the Pirates took advantage. It was the air attack once more as Stewart's 25-yard pass to Dayton Mitchell was good for six and the PAT gave Platte County their first lead of the night at 28-27 with just 1:23 left to play.
The Warriors were then turned away on fourth down as Forrest Boynton's sack with 45 seconds remaining sealed the Platte County victory.
"We didn't do what we practiced all week in the first half and our kids knew they were better than what they showed," Platte County Head Coach Bill Utz said. "Credit to Smithville, they are a great team and really put us in a big deficit early. Luckily, we had a half to reset ourselves. Hats off to our kids for accepting the challenge."
Smithville’s ability to make big plays was the difference in the first half as the Warriors took control of the action early.
With just 2:42 to play in the first quarter, Brian Boyd busted through the Platte County defense on 4th-and-inches for 50 yards to put Smithville ahead 7-0.
The Warriors’ defense doubled the lead when Garrett Thompson picked off a pass and took it back for six, giving Smithville a 14-0 lead with 6:39 to go in the first half.
Smithville punctuated the half with another offensive TD. With just 30 seconds left in the quarter, Boyd scored his second rushing touchdown of the night to make it 21-0 at halftime.
Platte County, who hosts Raymore-Peculiar next week, was led by Stewart's 277 yards through the air, while Gilbert had seven catches for 114 yards and Freitek rushed for 103 yards on 21 carries.
For Smithville, Isaac Miller ran for 140 yards on 25 attempts and Kellen Simoncic was 12-24 for 147 yards through the air. The Warriors (5-1) face Winnetonka next week in Smithville.
