Platte County struggled in the red zone more often than not but came away with just enough points.
Grant Allen’s third field goal with 51 seconds left in regulation in a thrilling rematch gave the Pirates their first lead of Friday night’s Class 4 District 8 semifinal with rival Smithville at Pirate Stadium. The Warriors drove across midfield with no timeouts before senior quarterback Spencer Miller’s final pass resulted in his second interception.
Platte County senior safety Trent Rueckert came up with the turnover to seal a 23-20 win, sending the Pirates to the district championship game for a fifth consecutive season. They will play at top-seeded and unbeaten Lincoln Prep (11-0) next week hoping to reach the playoffs for the second time in five years.
“I think we did a good job preparing them this week to understand they had to have this in order to play for the district title,” Platte County coach Bill Utz said. “Everything stopped with this game. From early on when you saw the seeds that this was going to be a tremendous game if we were both able to get to this point. It is a championship feeling because we have so much respect for (Smithville).”
Platte County (8-3) overcame a 13-0 deficit with two key defensive stops and a pick-six interception from junior Collin Tyson.
Smithville (9-2) didn’t score in the regular season matchup between the two teams but held the lead for the majority of the second meeting. Warriors senior running back Isaac Miller, who finished with 92 yards rushing, scored a 1-yard touchdown with 11:07 left in regulation to make it 20-13.
Platte County responded with its only touchdown drive — a 65-yard march that included completions of 23 and 6 yards from junior quarterback Chris Ruhnke to junior wide receiver Dayton Mitchell. Pirates senior running back Trey Phan finished the march with an 8-yard touchdown run to tie the score for the second time.
“Our offense stepped up there,” Utz said. “It was good to go down and answer that because that was the big question. If you don’t answer that, the momentum stays on that side, and the ball game is probably over. That was a huge drive for us.”
Platte County then forced a punt for just the second time, and a short kick set the Pirates up at Smithville’s 45. They drove into a goal-to-go situation, but Ruhnke’s third down pass to Hunter Clarkson fell incomplete in the end zone after the Warriors had exhausted their final two timeouts.
Allen, a standout soccer player in his second year kicking for Platte County, calmly stepped up and drilled the 20-yard field goal — adding to makes from 26 and 22 yards in the first half — to give the Pirates the lead. He kept his thoughts simple as he lined up for the potential winning kick.
“Don't miss. That's pretty much it. Don't miss, do your steps, take a breath, kick it,” said Allen, who tied a career high he set with three field goals in the first matchup with Smithville — a 15-0 win for Platte County in Week 5.
After not scoring in the previous matchup, Smithville marched 91 yards on the game’s opening possession and scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Spencer Miller to George Fisher to make it 7-0. Platte County immediately went three-and-out, and Allen, who doubles as the punter, was ruled to have touched his knee down at his own 8-yard line while taking the long snap on the punt attempt.
Four plays later, Smithville scored on fourth-and-goal with a 1-yard quarterback sweep from Spencer Miller. The Warriors missed the extra point but led 13-0 after 9 ½ minutes with Platte County having only run three offensive plays to that point.
Smithville only scored seven points in the final 38:24 of the game on a fourth quarter touchdown.
“When you win games like that, you’re pretty happy with them, pretty proud of them,” Utz said. “Just the ability to come back from 13 down and stay with the plan, not get over anxious, not get freaked out and pull out a victory.”
Allen’s two field goals closed the gap to 13-7 at halftime, and Platte County took the ball to start the third quarter. For the third time, the Pirates marched into the red zone but a deflected pass resulted in an interception near the goal line with Smithville taking over at its own 1.
Two plays later, Spencer Miller threw a pass toward the right sideline, but Tyson broke early, grabbed his first interception of the season and returned it 10 yards, dragging a Smithville player into the end zone for a touchdown to tie the score at 13-13.
“Usually when they say, ‘Hot,’ (the ball) comes out fast, so I was thinking they were going to cut down short,” said Tyson, Platte County’s shutdown corner who also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery in a win against Raytown South earlier this season. “I just trusted my instincts and just went for the ball and made a play, and my teammates helped me into the end zone.”
There were only two possessions left for each team at that point, and Platte County scored on both to avoid having the season end with a loss to Smithville for a second straight season. Ruhnke finished just 11-for-23 with 122 passing yards, while Phan had a career-high 133 yards rushing on 24 attempts. Mitchell led all receivers with seven catches for 79 yards.
Platte County and Smithville have met in the Class 4 District 8 playoffs in each of the eight seasons under the current postseason format. The Pirates improved to 5-3 in those meetings.
Platte County will now go to Lincoln College Prep for the district title game Friday. The Blue Tigers beat Excelsior Springs 41-38 in double overtime in the district semifinal.
