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Photo Credit: Todd Nugent/Special to PrepsKC

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It was the Platte County defense's night to shine as the Pirates held off a game North Kansas City team for a 21-6 win on Friday night in Platte City.

It’s hard to beat a team twice in a season and the rematch between North Kansas City and Platte County was further proof of that.

"We knew they we're going to run the ball, and ironically we wanted to do the same thing," Platte County head coach Bill Utz said. "It doesn't take a lot to look at this and know that defense is going to win this game. It wasn't a big surprise, but they did come in with some new formations and did some different things. We had to get settled in and luckily our defense played well."

North Kansas City’s game plan to keep the clock running and limit Platte County's snaps on offense worked for almost a full quarter before the Pirates’ offense got untracked.

The first big play came on a 27-yard run by junior Nate Walls to the Hornet 25. Platte County found the end zone a couple plays later on a pass from Jared Parsons to Brody Fulk from 15 yards out and it was 7-0 with 1:02 left in the first.

Late in the first half, the Hornets took advantage of costly penalties to get their first score. The first was a pass interference that kept the North Kansas City drive alive. A face mask penalty on third down was followed by Gerald Lewis' rushing score from 20 yards out with less than four minutes left in the second. The Pirates blocked the PAT and took a slim 7-6 lead into halftime.

A pair of missed field goals by Platte County in the third quarter kept it a one-point game going into the final 12 minutes.

With just 5:27 remaining, the Pirates decided to gamble on fourth-and-goal - and it paid off. Parsons' pass to Fulk on the play pushed the lead to 14-6.

North Kansas City still had hope after a fumble recovery at their own 39 by defensive end Edric Hill with 2:09 left. But just 12 seconds later, Pirate junior Cameron Wolfe came up with a pick six to seal the win.

"This game is a game of momentum," Utz said. "As soon as that started shifting we were able to take hold of it."

Platte County's defense allowed just 80 yards of total offense and held North Kansas City to 3-16 on third down conversions.

“We've come to the point where that (defensive) performance is normal for us this year," Utz said. "We have a lot of older kids on defense that have been playing for a while. They take a lot of pride in it and they get after it. We love what they can do to set us up to get points."

The Pirates (9-2), who entered the postseason ranked fifth, will take on No. 7 Fort Osage (9-1) in the district championship next week.