Eagles football looks for first state semifinal appearance since 2007

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
 
The Grain Valley football team is in familiar territory.
 
The Eagles have made it to the state quarterfinals for the sixth time in the last seven years. Last Friday, they defeated Raytown 49-28 to win the Class 5 District 7 championship.
 
They will take on defending state champion and No. 1-ranked Platte County at 7 p.m. Friday at home for the right to advance to the semifinals. The Pirates won their district following a 2-yard touchdown run from quarterback Rocco Marriott with 2 seconds left in the game in a 29-22 victory over Rockhurst.
 
Platte County will be the Eagles’ toughest matchup this season as the Pirates have not lost a game since Nov. 10, 2023, which was a 27-25 defeat in the district title game to Grain Valley.
 
The Eagles fell to Platte County in Week 2 of the regular season in a 54-23 loss, which was their largest margin of defeat in 2025.
 
But Allie and his players have noted that the team has made some major improvements since that loss and will be prepared for the Pirates.
 
“We’re pretty confident,” Grain Valley senior safety Brody Jones said. “We have had a great week of practice. All we have left is something to prove this Friday.”
 
Some of those improvements include a leap in the offensive line play, which has led to some gaudy rushing numbers. Grain Valley has rushed for 2,444 yards since the Platte County game. That production has been led by sophomore Dawson Head, who took over as the lead back when junior Sjoeren Aumua went down with a shoulder injury in a Week 6 game against Kearney.
 
Since the game with the Bulldogs, Head has totaled 1,367 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. Any time Head discusses his big-yardage performances, he always gives credit to the offensive line.
 
“I feel like we are playing a lot more physically,” Grain Valley senior left guard/defensive end Logan Bennett said. “I think we all have turned that up since the Kearney game. It will be a good matchup in the trenches.
 
“We do grades after every game. At the beginning of the season, we struggled a little bit, but we all have had passing grades in recent weeks and we are understanding the game better.”
 
The Eagles potent run game will be key against the Pirates as the home team will need to keep Platte County’s explosive offense off the field as much as possible.
 
Added senior tackle Will Page: “We have to sustain our blocks and sustain our drives. We have to be more physical with them. If we can do that, we will kick their (behind).”
 
Platte County has an explosive offense led by Marriott, who will be playing for Division I James Madison University next fall. He was a first-team, all-state selection in 2024 along with tight end Jack Utz, who is one of his top targets.
 
He also has a big target in 6-foot-5 tight end Brooks Hall and has three experienced receivers in Tres Baskerville, Braiden Stevens and Ty Christopher. The spread offense of the Pirates will challenge the Eagles secondary and the rest of the defense as Allie said the key was limiting their big plays and containing Marriott, who is a dual-threat signal caller.
 
“We have to make them earn it,” Allie said. “We can’t let their receivers get behind us. One thing Rockhurst did in the first half was get pressure on Marriott. They got some turnovers because of that.
 
“Marriott can scramble so we have to be able to contain him. Last time, he got outside the pocket and was able to run on us. We can’t give them easy plays. They are multi-faceted so it’s hard to do that. We have been preparing for that.”
 
The Grain Valley defensive line has been a strength for the defense this season despite having several newcomers up front, including Kansas City Northeast transfer Muai Sua, who has racked up several tackles for loss for his team.
 
The defensive line has been doing a great job,” Allie said. “We had some injuries there so we have had some kids that have had to play both ways, which makes things hard. Luckily we have been able to spell those guys and not use them as much.”
 
If Grain Valley can get its run game going and contain Platte County’s passing game, the Eagles could make their first state semifinal appearance since 2007.
 
“We need to sustain drives to keep that offense on the field,” Allie said. “We also need to finish drives. Platte County is going to score a lot of points.”
 

Grain Valley has rushed for 2,444 yards since the Platte County game. That production has been led by sophomore Dawson Head (pictured above in Grain Valley's first game this season against Platte County), who took over as the lead back when junior Sjoeren Aumua went down with a shoulder injury in a Week 6 game against Kearney. Photo credit: Addie Kennedy