Sherman now state's 2nd
all-time rushing leader
by Tad
Brewer
Landmark reporter
The Platte County Pirate football team improved its record
to 7-0 on the season after defeating their conference
rival Smithville Warriors 53-7 Friday night.
Smithville had been undefeated in their last 20 Homecoming
games, but the top-ranked Pirates ended this streak. Entering
the game, Pirate halfback Zach Sherman needed just 109
yards to become the second all-time leading rusher in
Missouri.
The Pirates started the game off with a deep kickoff
to give the Warriors poor field position to start off
the game. The Platte County defense held Smithville and
forced them to punt away the ball.
The Pirates took over possession of the ball on their
own 49-yard line. With 8:04 left in the first quarter,
senior quarterback Robbie Campbell would hit senior wide
receiver David Poolman with a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Junior Nick Jaros kicked the extra point concluding a
7 play, 51 yard drive.
Smithville started their next drive on their own 20-yard
line after a touchback on the kickoff. The Platte County
defense dominated Smithville’s offense forcing them
to punt again.
The Pirates quickly moved the ball down the field on
3 plays, covering 65 yards. Senior wide receiver Chase
Verdoorn pulled in a 38-yard pass from Campbell for another
Pirate touchdown with 3:46 remaining in the quarter. Jaros
converted the extra point giving the Pirates a 14-0 lead.
Platte County’s defense stifled Smithville’s
offense, holding them to negative yardage. Smithville
was forced to punt out of their end zone. The Warriors
long snapper snapped the ball over the punters head and
out of the back of the end zone, which was a safety and
gave the Pirates two more points and a 16-0 lead with
2:49 remaining in the quarter.
Smithville kicked off to Platte County after the safety.
Jaros returned the kickoff 60 yards for the Pirates, advancing
the ball all the way to the Warrior 13-yard line. On the
next play Sherman rushed the ball into the end zone from
13 yards out. With 2:29 left in the first quarter, Jaros
kicked the extra point, extending the Pirate lead to 23
points.
Smithville was finally able to get the ball back, but
would quickly give it back to Platte County. The Warrior
running back fumbled the ball and junior defensive lineman
Aaron Bernard recovered it for the Pirates.
On the next play after the fumble recovery, Sherman added
to his rushing yards with a 23-yard touchdown run for
the Pirates. Jaros made the extra point and gave the Pirates
a 30-0 lead with 1:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Smithville received the ball and ran out the time in
the first quarter. As the Warriors went to punt away the
ball, they fumbled the snap in the end zone and recovered
it, but not before another special team's safety for the
Pirates just six seconds into the second quarter with
11:54 remaining.
The Pirates received the kickoff again after the Smithville
safety. Junior fullback Matt Prout helped to move the
ball down the field for Platte County with a 49-yard run.
Verdoorn would end the 4 play, 64 yard drive with a 3-yard
rush for a touchdown. The extra point was good by Jaros,
and the Pirates had a 39-0 lead over Smithville with 10:32
left in the half.
Platte County’s defense yet again held Smithville
to no yardage and forced them to punt the ball away.
Just two plays after the punt, Sherman broke a 78-yard
touchdown run, which gave him enough yardage to move into
Missouri’s second all-time leading rusher slot with
7:48 remaining in the first half. Jaros converted the
extra point extending the Pirate lead to 46-0.
The final score of the game for Platte County came with
5:26 left in the first half. Verdoorn returned a punt
59 yards for a touchdown. Jaros made the extra point and
gave the Pirates a 53-0 lead at halftime.
The Platte County junior varsity squad played the entire
second half for them.
They gave up a 56-yard kickoff return to start the half.
Soon after Smithville put the ball in the end zone with
a 26-yard pass for their only score of the night, with
10:34 reaming in the third quarter.
Neither team scored throughout the rest of the game making
the final score 53-7.
“I thought the team came out really, really excited
and ready to play,” said head coach Chip Sherman.
“They showed they were ready to play with all of
their intensity and enthusiasm.”
Platte County had 349 total yards of offense, 266 came
on the ground, and 83 through the air.
Sherman rushed for 177 yards on 11 carries. Sherman surpassed
the previous second place mark of 6,185 yards. Sherman
has 6,293 yards rushing in his career, with 1,373 of those
yards coming so far this season.
Campbell was 2-3 passing for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Chris Hawkins of the Pirates was
2-4 passing with 20 yards and an interception.
Platte County receivers included Verdoorn with 1 for
38 yards and a touchdown, Poolman with 1 for 35 yards
and a touchdown, junior wide receiver Brian Connell with
1 for 18 yards, and sophomore running back Bobby Passmore
who had 1 reception for 2 yards.
The varsity defense held Smithville to negative 12 total
yards. The leading tacklers for the Pirates were Bernard
with seven, junior Travis Frogge with six, senior Tyler
Warner with four, senior Brad Hankins with three, and
junior Luke Rainey with three.
Bernard had the only fumble recovery for Platte County
and sophomore Craig Parker had the only interception for
the Pirates.
The Pirates travel up to Savannah Oct. 19 to begin their
District action against the formerly ranked conference
rival Savannah. Platte County looks to face one of their
biggest challenges so far this season.
“We will have to stop their physical run game,”
Sherman said. “Our key challenge will be to stop
the run game with our strong defense.”
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