Rockhurst, Liberty North, Oak Park and Grain Valley are district champions in football

Rockhurst was seemingly right where it wanted to be late in Friday night’s high school football playoff showdown with undefeated Lee’s Summit North: needing a game-winning touchdown and then a defensive stop.

Sure enough, the Hawklets followed through with a crucial TD drive and then stopped the Broncos short as Rockhurst earned the Missouri Class 6, District 6 title with a 24-21 victory.

The Hawklets, ranked No. 3 in the 810 Varsity Top 25, will play host to Nixa next Saturday in the Class 6 quarterfinals.

“This has been a great group of kids, and so many seniors that have fought and been ready for this moment,” Rockhurst coach Kelly Donohoe said. “And they came up big on both sides of the ball.”

It was a much-hyped battle between two of the city’s (and state’s) top teams, and it certainly lived up to the hype. No. 1 Lee’s Summit North (10-1) led for most of the first half, but North took a 21-17 lead on a 14-play, 97-yard drive.

The Broncos converted two fourth downs during the drive — including a fourth-and-goal from the 4. Tanner Howes scored on a run to the right with 22.5 left in the third quarter.

But Rockhurst one-upped the Broncos with a mammoth march that would prove to be the game-winner. It started from the Hawklets’ 25 with 15.7 seconds to go in the third; on the 15th play of the drive, Aidan Ryan ran it in for the decisive TD.

Grain Valley 27, Platte County 25

For a half, Grain Valley probably felt ready to hoist the district trophy. Then the Eagles had to fight hard to make that moment a reality.

The Eagles (10-1) built a 24-0 halftime lead, then rallied to clinch the Class 5, District 8 title. Platte County (9-3) scored all of its points in the second half, as quarterback Rocco Marriott ran for a pair of scores and also threw a TD pass.

His lone touchdown through the air was an 11-yarder to Brayden Stevens, which got the Pirates on the board with 8:46 left in the third. Adam Gisler, who cracked the top 10 all-time in single-season yards for Platte County, got into the end zone via a 12-yard run with 6:57 to play.

Marriott’s 1-yard run late in the third made it 24-19 GVHS with 2:14 to go. After a stop, Marriott’s 2-yard TD run helped the Pirates take a 25-24 lead with 8:42 left. Marriott passed for 206 yards and ran for 51 Friday.

But Grain Valley mustered one more scoring drive, and Ben Drinkwater’s 22-yard field goal with 4:42 left was the game-winner. Drinkwater also made a 28-yarder in the first half.

Grain Valley’s Ty Williams ran for 272 yards and three TDs: an 8-yard score in the first quarter and runs of 18 and 79 yards in the second.

Up next for the Eagles is a road trip to Webb City to face the Cardinals (9-2) in the quarterfinals next week.

Oak Park 17, Park Hill 14

For the first time since 2001, Oak Park is a district champion thanks to Friday night’s victory over Park Hill in the Class 6, District 8 final.

A week after beating Staley for the first time, the Northmen proceeded to best Park Hill (5-6) for the first time in recent years: They’d been 0-3 since 2009 against the Trojans. Now, the undefeated Northmen (11-0) will face Liberty North (10-1) in the Class 6 quarterfinals next week.

On Friday, Oak Park built a 10-0 lead and then held off a late rally.

Matthew Solorio kicked a field goal in the second quarter to break a scoreless tie. Quarterback Aiden Hinkle had a pair of touchdowns for the Northmen; the first made it 10-0 at halftime.

Hinkle’s second touchdown came at a pivotal point in the game. Park Hill had trimmed the difference to three points, 10-7, on a TD run by Gavin Schaag. The Trojans then had a chance to take the lead after the Northmen missed a 27-yard field goal late in the third quarter.

Instead, Hinkle’s second TD run made it 17-7, and Bryce Lisaka scored the final points of the game with a late TD. The Trojans recovered a subsequent onside kick, but Donovan Ross intercepted a last-gasp pass in the end zone to end it.

Liberty North 33, Liberty 10

It was uncomfortable for second-ranked Liberty North at times during Friday night’s district championship game against Liberty.

But in the end, the Eagles rolled to a decisive victory and a spot opposite unbeaten Oak Park in next week’s Class 6 quarterfinals.

“Everybody’s gotten better over the course of the year, so we knew it was going to be a tough game,” Liberty North coach Andy Lierman said. “We just wanted to come out and execute and do what we could to win the ballgame.”

North held a slim 7-3 halftime lead against its crosstown rival. But it became a 14-3 game on Jacorey Love’s rushing touchdown with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter.

A pair of fourth-quarter field goals by Bleu Renfrow put the Eagles up by 17 late. But Liberty (7-4) wasn’t done yet. Christian Kuchta, who threw for 187 yards, connected with Dominic Revels on a 50-yard TD, and the Blue Jays were within 10 with more than five minutes left.

Liberty recovered the ensuing onside kick, but North wasn’t having it. Athen Welcome came up with an interception and returned it 75 yards to the end zone, and the Eagles added another rushing TD to ice it.

Next, the Eagles and Northmen will play for a spot in the final four on Saturday, Nov. 18.

For playoff brackets, stats, recaps, online broadcasts and more, visit 810Varsity.com.

This story was originally published November 11, 2023 at 12:52 AM.