The Panthers have been waiting a long time to get back to relevancy and the North Platte football team (3-2) continues to make strides in the right direction.
Coming into the fall with zero wins in each of the last two seasons and only three wins in the year prior to that, North Platte is putting a historical number of tallies in the win column. In the Panthers’ most recent quest for a victory, they throttled Plattsburg (0-5) by a score of 45-6 on September 23.
North Platte senior Colton Kirkham runs past a pack of Plattsburg defenders in the Panthers historical 45-6 win over the Tigers on Sept. 23.
That was the most points the Panthers have scored since they took down Princeton with Mercer 46-12 on August 26, 2016. To put into perspective how unprecedented the scoring surge against Plattsburg was, North Platte only scored 38 total points through its first five games into last season.
It’s been eleven years since North Platte has posted a winning record five weeks into the season as it had a 4-1 record at that point in 2011. By taking down Penney (0-5) and Plattsburg in two consecutive weeks, that gives the Panthers back-to-back victories for the first time since the 2019 season.
North Platte was coming off a 25-24 double overtime win over the Hornets, which was the most points the Panthers had produced since a 43-27 loss to Lathrop in 2020. North Platte surpassed its last week’s point total in the first quarter alone, going up 26-0 over Plattsburg in the opening 12 minutes of action.
The Panthers forced a pair of interceptions in the opening five minutes of the game and didn’t let off the gas, heading into the locker room with a 32-6 lead. The Tigers gave up two more touchdowns in the third quarter – to trail 45-6 – and it was a scoreless fourth quarter with a running clock.
Colton Kirkham passed for 109 yards and rushed for 115 yards, while tossing two scores. Waylon McCracken and Liam Servaes both had a receiving touchdown.
Chance Garber led the defense with 14 tackles, along with two quarterback hurries. Seth Cruz had the Panthers only sack and Jesse Williams had a fumble recovery.
The victory gave the Panthers a 2-1 conference record and they’re currently third overall in the KCI Conference. North Platte will be tasked with taking on undefeated and the top team in the conference, Mid-Buchanan (5-0), in the Panthers’ homecoming on September 30.