High School

Playoff Thriller: Three-Star QB Rocco Marriott Scores Late TD, No. 1 Platte County Rallies to Beat No. 14 Rockhurst

Mizzou recruit's touchdown with two seconds left propels Platte County to Missouri high school football Class 5 District 8 championship

Levi Payton

Platte County three-star senior quarterback Rocco Marriott scored a touchdown with 2 seconds remaining to help his No. 1 Pirates overcome No. 14 Rockhurst in a Class 5 District 8 thriller Friday night at Platte County High School.
Platte County three-star senior quarterback Rocco Marriott scored a touchdown with 2 seconds remaining to help his No. 1 Pirates overcome No. 14 Rockhurst in a Class 5 District 8 thriller Friday night at Platte County High School. / David Smith

Big-time players make big-time plays in big moments to win big games.

Platte County senior quarterback Rocco Marriott is a big-time player. On Friday night, he made a big-time play in a big moment to win a big game.

Marriott’s Late TD Sends No. 1 Platte County to the State Quarterfinals

With his No. 1 Platte County Pirates trailing 22-21 at home against No. 14 Rockhurst in the Class 5 District 8 championship game Friday night, Marriott — a three-star James Madison commit who picked up an offer from Missouri last week and another from West Virginia before that — put the game in his own hands.

Marching his team down the field in the final minute, Marriott and the Pirates had the ball at Rockhurst’s 2 with 6 seconds left in regulation. He took the snap, called his own number, ran right, had his feet cut from under him and sailed backward into the end zone with 2 seconds remaining. It was his second rushing touchdown of the night and the dagger to Rockhurst.

Platte County (11-0) pulled out the 29-22 win, kept its season alive and advanced to the state quarterfinals, where the Pirates will face Grain Valley at 7 p.m. Friday. They also extended their winning streak to 25 games and marked 31 wins in their last 32 contests.

Rockhurst Jumps Ahead Early Behind Defense and Devereux’s Kicking

The Hawklets, who led 12-0 at halftime and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:49 left to take a 21-15 lead, finished the season 9-3.

A tale of two halves, Rockhurst’s defense dominated the first half, though Platte County’s defense refused to let the game get out of hand.

Rockhurst kicker Connor Devereux booted field goals from 29 and 31 yards in the first quarter — the second set up by an interception when Cash Lewandowski picked off a tipped pass from Marriott — to make it 6-0.

Early in the second quarter, the Pirates pinned Rockhurst at its own 2 off a punt, but Hawklets quarterback Garret Miller later found Tristan Johnson on a 75-yard touchdown to make it 12-0.

Pirates Rally Behind Marriott’s Arm to Take First Lead

Platte County remained scoreless late into the third quarter until Marriott found Ty Christopher on a 36-yard touchdown pass. Rockhurst blocked the extra point to keep it 12-6. The score didn’t hold. Platte County quickly got the ball back at the Rockhurst 29 and took a 13-12 lead when Marriott dropped a 12-yard pass into the arms of three-star tight end Jack Utz, a Kansas commit.

Devereux booted a 30-yard field goal, his third of the game, to make it 15-13 midway through the fourth quarter, but Marriott — who finished with 184 yards passing, two touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed 20 times for 131 yards and two TDs — responded with a 10-yard rushing touchdown and tossed a two-point conversion to Carlos Baskerville to put Platte County in front 21-15.

Hawklets Answer Late With 69-Yard Strike to Momentarily Regain Lead

Pinned deep in its own territory with less than 2 minutes remaining, Rockhurst answered. Miller fired a 69-yard touchdown to Warren Robertson and Devereux booted the extra point with 1:49 left to give the Hawklets a 22-21 lead.

But an upset was not in store. The big strike left too much time for Marriott and the star-studded Pirates.

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Levi Payton
LEVI PAYTON

Levi’s sports journalism career began in 2005. A Missouri native, he’s won multiple Press Association awards for feature writing and has served as a writer and editor covering high school sports as well as working beats in professional baseball, NCAA football, basketball, baseball and soccer. If you have a good story, he’d love to tell it.

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