Platte Valley Overcomes Slow Start to Beat Rock Port 54-16

Platte Valley showed that last year's turnaround season was no fluke, beating Mound City 52-28 in week one and Rock Port 54-16 Friday. They overcame a slow start Friday to do it against a Rock Port squad which had won its first game handily over DeKalb.

In the first quarter, Platte Valley could find nothing as Rock Port had Micah Makings shadowing Carter Luke and hitting him one on one. But Platte Valley's kicking game helped turn the game in their favor. Trevor Weir boomed all his kickoffs into the end zone and he usually got his punts inside the 15. His first punt was blown dead at the four and Platte Valley took full advantage, forcing a three and out. This time, Weir shot straight up the middle, flushing the kicker, Micah Makings, out of the pocket on fourth and seven at the 7. Makings' pass was hurried and incomplete, and he was beyond the line of scrimmage anyway, and Platte Valley took over on the Rock Port 7. It took just two tries for Jaxon McCrary to get in with 6:38 left. Silkett cited the special teams play in the win; they emphasize it in practice just as much as they do the offense and defense.

Platte Valley's coach, Johnny Silkett, teaches his teams to take pride in smashmouth football. But during the middle of last year, he threw in the swinging gate to take advantage of quarterback Aydan Blackford and get him isolated into the open field. They have a center eligible play which they can use out of that formation, and they took advantage when Blackford hit the snapper, Trevor Weir, to make it 8-0. 

Rock Port, with a new coach this year, is seeking to replicate what Platte Valley did last year. They play the same style of ball, with Makings, Phillip Herron, and quarterback Aidan Burke carrying the load. They have a promising front three which could match up with Platte Valley's huge front line. They steadily marched down the field on the next series, with Herron, Makings, and Burke all going for good gains. But then the Platte Valley players started making adjustments on their technique and doing a better job of getting rid of their blockers, and they tightened up after Rock Port had penetrated to the 24. They were faced with fourth and eight at the 22, but then Burke's quick hitter was stopped short at the 15, one yard short, and Platte Valley took over on downs. 

The front three for Rock Port still held strong on their next defensive series, but after Aydan Blackford broke up a pass on third down, Carter Luke finally found daylight and found second level to the Rock Port 35. A false start held them up, and Platte Valley lined up to punt on fourth and 14 at the Rock Port 39. But a defensive holding penalty gave them new life after Weir, the punter, went on a fake punt and threw into a crowd. This time, they gave it to Aydan Blackford and he took it nine yards to the 20 and a first down. Blackford found daylight on the next play as well, taking it 13 yards down to the 7. Finally, Jaxon McCrary bulldozed his way into the end zone with 6:45 left and Blackford ran out of the gate and got into the end zone for the extra points to make it 16-0. 

Carter Luke shot through and dropped Makings for a loss on the next series, and Mason Richardson had a good punt return to put Platte Valley in Rock Port territory at the 38. McCrary's plunges and Blackford's keepers finally sprung Luke loose, and he broke a tackle and took it all the way to the 12. Jaxon McCrary took it two more yards to the 10, and then Luke broke another tackle and got in with 3:20 left in the half. Aydan Blackford ran in the extra points to make it 24-0.

Rock Port found some daylight on its next series and got two first downs to its own 39. But with time running out, they attempted a long pass and Aydan Blackford picked it off at the 10. Platte Valley went into the gate and Blackford found daylight for carries of 5 and 13 to the 28 with 51 seconds left. They isolated Trevor Weir on the next play and ran a perfect center eligible play, and Weir took it to the house with 42 seconds left to break the game open at 30-0.

Rock Port was kicking off to start the second half, and they tried a squib kick that was covered and returned to the 31. Platte Valley was set back by a false start, but on fourth and two at the 39, Carter Luke got the sweep, bounced outside, and was off to the races with 9:43 left and Aydan Blackford ran it in to make it 38-0.

A running into the kicker penalty gave Rock Port a chance to go for it on fourth and three at their own 22, but Burke was tackled inches short at the 25, and Platte Valley had a short field to work with. They took advantage as Jaxon McCrary took a quick hitter 11 yards to the 14 and Carter Luke took it on three carries to the house with 5:06 left. Aydan Blackford ran in the extra points to make it 46-0 and trigger the running clock the rest of the way. This year, by rule, the running clock is now in effect for 35 points or more in Missouri eight man games for the second half. The Highway 275 Conference recently abolished the rule that required teams down 45 points or more to call the game. By rule, it is up to the coaches to decide whether or not to continue. The rule was put in place after a wild 94-48 win by Worth County over South Holt, in which South Holt elected to play on, leave their starters in against Worth County's JV, and throw long passes in an obvious effort to pad their quarterback's stats.

Rock Port elected to play on and Herron finally found daylight and took it to the house on the next series and Burke ran in the extra points to make it 46-8. Platte Valley took it right back down the field as Carter Luke broke one for 24 yards to the 25. Leland Otto took some turns carrying the ball and found some daylight, and that set up Jaxon McCrary from two yards out with 10:25 left in the fourth to make it 56-8. Dylan Lair broke a long one in the closing seconds as the reserves took over.

Editorial -- GOP Limiting Ballot Measures

On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions backing proposed measures to expand voting access, ensure abortion rights, and legalize recreational marijuana in Arizona, Arkansas, and Michigan. But they report that voters might not get a say because Republican officials and judges are fighting tooth and nail to keep these proposals off the ballot.

These actions by the Republican Party show why the two party system is a complete failure. The two main parties don’t trust We the People to govern our own affairs. And don’t count on the Democrats to try to save us. They’re too busy demanding that we make all these sacrifices and blame it all on the Russians.

Nothing is stopping people from putting measures on the ballot which would require Voter ID, declare that life begins at conception and ban abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger, or make the possession of marijuana a felony. That’s the whole point. Such measures need to be debated at the ballot box, and the state needs to respect the wishes of the people. And there is nothing wrong with legislatures putting measures of their own on the ballot. 

The point is that in states, the people need to be a check on the tendency of politicians to think that they know more than the people they are supposed to serve. By their own actions, these politicians in Arizona, Arkansas, and Michigan think that they know more than the people they are supposed to represent. Term limits are designed for people such as this.

As long as we keep electing the same people into power year in and year out, we will continue to get the same results. 

One common argument against these petitions is that they are being driven by interest groups. Fine. But states already have fair and adequate safeguards to protect the people. Citizen initiatives can’t go against the US or state constitutions. And if you want to get a ballot measure passed, you have to get hundreds of thousands of signatures, not an easy task. 

The politicians can try to take away our right to govern our own affairs all they want. But they can’t force us to vote for them. We can withhold votes from politicians who refuse to carry out the wishes of We the People.

Editorial -- Supply Chain Disruptions

On Saturday, Radio Iowa reported that economic growth has slowed in Iowa and in the Midwest during August. Hiring has dropped, and a new poll of supply managers found that 58.6% said their biggest concern was supply chain disruptions. Labor shortage was named by 24.1%, and inflation was named by 10.4%.

While gas prices have tapered off from recent all time highs, food prices are still too high, and inflation remains at above 6%, far too high. Confidence levels in 2022 are at the worst since the 2008-2009 recession, which is a worrying sign.

But instead of taking concrete steps to stop the supply chain disruptions, addressing inflation, and rallying the country behind a common purpose, Joe Biden shows by his own actions that he doesn’t care. He’s continuing to pursue his vendetta against Russia at the cost of Ukrainian lives, continuing to humor Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her vendetta against China, and he’s not doing one thing to address these issues. He’s printing the money to arm Taiwan and Ukraine instead of trying to repair critical infrastructure at home, and he’s expecting us not to notice. And then he wonders why nobody likes him.

But I suppose it’s a lot easier for politicians like Joe Biden to try and solve other countries’ problems than it is to solve our own here at home.

And if Nancy Pelosi gets her way and gets her war with China, then these supply chain disruptions will be much, much worse. Not that it matters to someone like her. People like Nancy Pelosi have gotten too powerful. That is why we need turn limits in this country.

Editorial -- Joe Biden Prints Money for Taiwan Arms

The path towards a four front war continues. On Friday, the Biden Administration formally notified Congress of their intent to sell radars, anti-ship, and anti-aircraft missiles to Taiwan worth $1.1 billion. Some of that money would have come in awfully handy for fixing our pothole infested roads here in Northwest Missouri. 

And instead of doing the hard work needed to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, the politicians in Washington are looking at ways of making it easier to deliver such weapons to Ukraine and Taiwan. This is a tragedy waiting to happen. In the 1980's, the US sent weapons to Afghanistan in an effort to drive the USSR out and to overthrow the government there. Those weapons were later used on us, and some of the very allies we were helping attacked our country on 9/11. But I suppose it's a lot easier for the politicians in Washington to solve other peoples' problems than it is to solve our own.

The safeguards regarding weapons deliveries to foreign entities were put in place for a reason. How do we know that the weapons that Joe Biden is printing money for won't fall into the wrong hands? How do we know that Taiwan won't suddenly become the enemy down the road, like Osama Bin Laden? How do we know that these weapons won't fall into the hands of the Chinese when we decide 20 years down the road that propping up the regime in Taiwan is no longer sustainable?

And Joe Biden offers no way to pay for these new weapons shipments. And I didn't get a bill from the IRS. So apparently, he is just going to print the money to pay for it, no questions asked. 

Editorial -- Joe Biden Said the Quiet Part Out Loud

Joe Biden, in a recent prime time speech, said the quiet part out loud. His exact words were, “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans are a threat to the very soul of the country.” This represents everything that is wrong with two party politics in this country today.

The elites in this country want to divide us. If you’re a Democrat, they want you to believe that Republicans are an existential threat to this country and that anyone who supports them are bad people. If you’re a Republican, they want you to believe that Democrats are an existential threat and that if you support them, you’re a bad person.

The purpose of the speech was not to condemn the violence of January 6th, which we all do. The purpose was to divide the country even more and frighten people into voting for Democrats in the upcoming election. Just like he wants people to blame the Russians for high prices and pothole infested roads and vote for Democrats to protect them.

Apparently, we weren’t the only one who noticed that Joe Biden said the quiet part out loud. On Friday, he said, “When people voted for Donald Trump and support him now, they weren’t voting for attacking the Capitol. They weren’t voting for overruling an election. They were voting for a philosophy he put forward.”

The problem is that it was Democrats who were challenging the legitimacy of the 2016, 2004, and 2000 elections although it never rose to the level of rioting at the Capitol. But they created the precedent.

In 2016, many Democrats didn’t want President Obama to peacefully hand over power to Donald Trump. They believed that Russia had somehow secretly hacked into our election systems and altered vote totals in key places in order to hand Donald Trump the White House. 

In 2004, many Democrats believed that Bush II operative Karl Rove had secretly altered vote totals in Florida and Ohio with the help of the Ohio and Florida Secretaries of State, Diebold, and ES&S, two voting machine companies. In 2000, many Democrats believed that election was rigged because it was decided by the Supreme Court. They at least had a point about the latter.

Hadley DeFreece Strikes Out 16 as Bluejays Back on Winning Track

Northeast Nodaway's softball girls fell into a hitting slump and dropped their first game of the season 5-0 against King City. They went 14 innings without a run before finally breaking out of it Thursday in the third and proceeded to get the 8-1 win over Albany for their third win of the season. With the team mired in a hitting slump, pitcher Hadley DeFreece carried the team on her shoulders against Albany, striking out 16 Warrior batters without walking or hitting a batter. Finally, the Bluejays used a two out rally to break through in the third when Bailey Busby hit a shot off Warrior pitcher Addisyn Crawford to shortstop Abigail Troncin, who had no play on it. She stole second and then DeFreece helped herself out with a single to left to put the Bluejays on the board first at 1-0.

The Warriors showed they are a dangerous hitting squad, as they were coming off back to back wins over Stanberry in which they scored 17 and 10 runs. But DeFreece struck out five Warriors in a row from the first to the third inning, and catcher Baylie Busby helped her with an outstanding defensive play, catching Tatum Peterson's foul ball against the fence. That meant that the bases were empty for Claire Manring's single with two outs in the inning, and Cory Worrell was called out on strikes to end it.

In the Bluejay fourth, Makenzie Pride singled to center, but Sasha Deardorff, seeing a pitch in the dirt, took off for second but was erased stealing. Troncin beat out a bunt single in the Warrior fourth to put the tying run on board, but DeFreece continued to carry the team on her shoulders, striking out Jordyn Sterkis, a promising freshman who earned her way into the starting lineup, along with Brea Jensen. That got her to ten strikeouts, and it was only the end of four.

The bottom of the order came through for Northeast as Lauren McIntyre and Lindsey Jackson had back to back singles to start the fifth. Baylie Busby forced Jackson at second, but she stole second to set up runners at second and third. Hadley DeFreece reached on Troncin's bobble to score McIntyre and put runners on first and second. They advanced on a wild pitch, and Jaden Atkins flied out to score Busby and make it 3-0. 

DeFreece struck out the side in the Warrior fifth to make it five in a row again. With one out in the Bluejay sixth, they struck again as Merrideth Adwell singled to center. Ruby Wilmes doubled down the right field line, just out of the reach of Keylee Siddens, as Adwell, who held up to make sure the ball wasn't caught, took third. Lauren McIntyre reached on a fielder's choice as Albany threw home with it, but Adwell, who was not forced to run, scrambled safely back to third. Lindsey Jackson grounded out to score Adwell and put runners on second and third. Baylie Busby reached on an error as Troncin's throw to first was in the dirt and two more runs scored. Hadley DeFreece singled past Troncin into left, Busby tried to go first to third despite the ball being hit to left field, and scored when the Warriors threw it away trying to get her out to make it 7-0.

Albany finally got on the board in the sixth when Cory Worrell tripled off the wall in center, 250 feet away, and came home on Addisyn Crawford's groundout. But DeFreece, whose previous career high was 13 against Stewartsville/Osborn earlier in the ear, fanned Troncin for a new career high. Northeast got the run back in the seventh when Jill Boswell hit a fly ball over Alexis Seiter's head in left. She leaped, but couldn't come up with it as Boswell got a triple, a carbon copy of her game-winning hit against North Harrison last year. Makenzie Pride singled to bring her home. Brea Jensen got a one out double in the Warrior seventh, but DeFreece struck out the last two batters to get the win.

Kayka Wilson's Two Double Plays Spark Shamrocks; Ruby Heintz Drives in 7

First baseman Kayka Wilson pulled off back to back double plays for the Shamrocks in the first and second innings, and the Shamrocks responded with big innings in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to run rule Stanberry for the second time in a week 13-3. Ruby Heintz had a big night at the plate; coming up with runners on base, she went four for four with seven runs batted in to fuel the Shamrocks on the other side. Pitcher Erica Gerken bent but didn't break in the humidity, finding her second wind to strike out six Stanberry batters and fending off their attempt to come back in the fifth.

The Shamrocks were coming off a close 3-1 loss to Platte Valley, one of the top teams in the area. The danger was that a "moral victory" can sometimes snowball into a big losing streak. Meanwhile, Stanberry's bats had come alive since the last time they played North Harrison despite back to back losses against Albany of 17-10 and 10-9. 

It looked like a good game at first. Trendi Johnson walked and went to second on a wild pitch. Jayliegh Robins reached on a dropped fly ball, moving Trendi to third, and stole second. Katelyn Briggs struck out, and then Stanberry fired themselves up with a 1-3-2 double play when they cut down Robins at the plate after getting the out at first to limit the damage to 1 run.

But North Harrison returned the compliment after Katlyn James beat out a slow roller down the third base line. Katie Angle hit a screamer down the right field line, but Kayka Wilson speared it and stepped on the bag for a double play. The best hitter on the team, Amelia Wallace, hit a tricky fly ball to right, but Katelyn Briggs got a basket catch to end the inning. Kayka pulled it off again in the Stanberry second after Kiley Mattson walked to lead off. She took second on a wild pitch. Maranda Evans crushed another ball down the right field line, only for Kayka to snare it again and double Mattson off second.

That sparked the Shamrocks for the rest of the way, and Erica Gerken led off the Shamrock third with a walk. Hailey Claycomb (running for Gerken) stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Trendi Johnson was hit by a pitch and stole second. Ruby Heintz then tripled off the right field wall to score both. Katelyn Briggs grounded out to score her. Kira Robertson restarted the inning with a bad hop single past short and went to second on a wild pitch. Andi Nail shot a single to center to score Robertson to make it 5-0. 

That chased starting pitcher Katlyn James, who was on a short leash for that game, but reliever Eva Cameron walked the bottom of the Shamrock order in Natalie Parkhurst and Erica Gerken to start the fourth. Trendi Johnson singled down the third base line to load the bases and Ruby Heintz singled to left. A good throw would have gotten Hailey Claycomb (running for Gerken), but the throw was dropped and Heintz took second as two runs scored. Katelyn Briggs walked and Kira Robertson hit a shot off the shortstop's glove to score two and took second on the throw home. Kayka Wilson grounded to third, and the third baseman, not realizing there was two outs, threw home in an attempt to retire Halle Morgan (running for Briggs). Morgan had an epic collision with Amelia Wallace, temporarily knocking her out of the game, and she was safe to make it 10-2. 

Kayka Wilson made another outstanding defensive play at first in the Stanberry fourth when she made a shoestring catch of Katie Angle's pop fly. It was a good thing as Wallace refused to stay out and came back to crush a single that got away from Morgan in right as she took third. Two more Shamrock errors led to two more runs as Stanberry cut their deficit to 10-2.

But North Harrison's bats were still strong and Erica Gerken hit a hart shot off shortstop for a base hit to start the fifth. Trendi Johnson forced Hailey Claycomb (running for Gerken) at second, but Jayliegh Robins doubled to left center off the wall. Johnson held up to make sure the ball wasn't caught, but made it to third on a close play. Ruby Heintz drove them both in with a single and went to second on the unsuccessful throw home. Halle Morgan grounded out to advance Heintz to third and Kira Robertson reached on an error to score Heintz to make it 13-2. 

The humidity was getting worse and Gerken walked Dani Vandraska to start the Stanberry fifth. Morgan Showers flied out to Halle Morgan in right, but the heart of the Stanberry lineup was back up again. Kaitlyn James hit a hard shot off Kayka Wilson's glove for another scratch hit, Katie Angle reached on an error to score Vandraska, and Wallace walked to load the bases with one out. But then Gerken found her second wind and recovered to get back to back strikeouts on Kiley Mattson and Lindsey Hailey to end the game.

The junior varsity lost 6-5. Jaci Davis had a double, while Carmon Fordyce and Natalie Parkhurst each had singles.