In a span of two weeks North Platte vanquished two seven-year losing streaks.
The Panthers rallied for a 27-20 victory against Hamilton on Friday, Oct. 25 to wrap up the regular season on a high note.
The win is the first for North Platte against the Hornets since they joined the KCI in 2012. Now, every team but Plattsburg has gotten at least one win against Hamilton in the past seven years.
“I look at our record and past scores and every game I write the kids a letter usually based on some sort of idea,” North Platte coach Reis Wright said. “I printed out all the results (against Hamilton) and there was quite a few lopsided scores but they had some awfully good football teams and they are very talented this year. We didn’t get the two-point conversion last year and I put, how will you be remembered? They definitely will be remembered for this game for sure. The overall morale and believe in ourselves and to have a winning record on the backside of the season is huge. It puts us in a position to host a game. With three wins, we are lucky to be hosting.”
The Panthers will host a district game on Friday, Nov. 1 when East Buchanan visits for a rematch of a game two weeks ago that North Platte won 39-20. The home district game is the first since 2015, the year the Panthers reached the district semifinals.
North Platte rallied late to clip Hamilton for the first time, scoring twice in the final four minutes.
BREANNA CHEADLE/Special to the Citizen
Hamilton’s Corbin Henderson, far right, tips a pass during the fourth quarter of a game against North Platte on Friday, Oct. 25. The ball ended up getting caught by North Platte’s Caine Huffman (23) for what was the game-winning score.
The most improbable come back featured a 48-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Hernandez to Caine Huffman. The pass went near Matrix Large, but the ball went off a Hamilton defender Corbin Henderson and then was falling to the ground before Huffman reached down and got it for the go-ahead points.
Hernandez attempted to run in conversion but when pressured, he threw it to Large who caught it for a 27-20 lead.
“We knew what we capable of doing it we just had to do it and do it right and do it the way the coach taught us throughout practice,” Huffman said. “It just came down to executing plays last week against East Buchanan and against Hamilton.”
Hamilton (4-5) had the ball with a chance to tie or win it but fumbled and Huffman secured the fumble recovery. North Platte took a knee to end the game.
“I had one time out and rolled Andrew to the right and typically you don’t draw plays with two in the same area but it was batted up in the air and Caine caught it with six inches to spare and took it in for a touchdown,” Wright said. “It was miraculous, similar to that Steelers (Franco Harris) catch years ago. It means a lot. I don’t know if I could put it in words. It is a lot of emotion and winning it the way we did.”
Large, who was the intended target, was initially confused on the series of events.
“We had a certain amount of time left on the clock and we had to score to win,” said Large, whose brother Landon Huff plays for Hamilton. “I was running down the field and I saw the ball in the air and I saw the defender up for it but I didn’t feel the ball and I thought it was over my head. All of the sudden I hear everyone start cheering and I was like, ‘hmm, that is kind of weird they cheer when you miss the ball. They aren’t supposed to cheer. I look to the right and I see Coach Wright jumping and his hair flaring everywhere and Caine is just dancing in the end zone. I was kind of confused and was like, ‘what happened?’
Hernandez, who ran for 235 yards on 25 carries, gave North Platte the temporary lead with 3:42 left to play in the fourth quarter. His 78-yard scamper gave North Platte a 19-14 lead.
Hamilton’s all-state running back Sawyer Morrow scored on a 42-yard run with 2:53 left gave Hamilton a 20-19 lead. In the third quarter, Morrow ran for a 13-yard touchdown to give Hamilton a 14-13 lead with 3 minutes left in the third quarter.
Morrow had all three touchdowns for Hamilton, adding a 3-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes left in the second to make it 13-7.
Hernandez had the first two scores to give North Platte a 13-0 lead with a 6-yard run in the first quarter and a 22-yard touchdown nine seconds into the second quarter.
Hernandez also had 11 tackles to lead the defense, while Joel Smyser added 10 and a fumble recovery and forced fumble, which came between Hernandez’s first two scores.
The attention now turns back to East Buchanan squad that is mired in a four-game losing streak, ending with a 56-12 loss to state-ranked Lathrop.
For a while, the Bulldogs (3-6) trailed 14-6 against the 9-0 Mules.
“Watching them play Lathrop, they were slugging not just a jab, they were slugging back,” Wright said of East Buchanan. “They scored and covered an onside kick and moved the ball down again and stalled out on their second drive. They are an extremely talented team and like I said before, they are lightning in a bottle when they have the ball. You are holding your breath because they can score by running, throwing or trickery … you name it. They want to get another shot at us and I’m certain they will be ready to go.”