North Platte senior running back Liam Servaes hurdles a Conway Christian defender in the second half of the Panthers’ 48-12 homecoming win on Sept. 22.
DEARBORN – In a rare matchup between a pair of No. 3 teams from two different states, the North Platte football team (4-1) outscored Conway Christian (4-2) 36-0 in the second half for a big homecoming triumph on Sept. 22.
Since Plattsburg switched to 8-man this season, North Platte had an open slot on its schedule and Conway Christian reached out and agreed to travel 434 miles for the game. Entering the night, North Platte was ranked No. 3 in Missouri Class 1 and Conway Christian was No. 3 in Arkansas Class 2, which is comparable class sizes.
“Just looking at their record and watching some of their tape, I knew that they were going to be a pretty good squad,” North Platte head football coach Jared Quigley said. “They have some good skill players and a big line upfront. We struggled with them in the first half but after kind of getting things going with our halftime adjustments, we made some positive strides.”
North Platte senior quarterback Colton Kirkham erupted for 155 rushing yards - including three touchdowns - in the Panthers 48-12 win over Conway Christian.
The first half was tight and low-scoring with the Eagles going up 6-0, but the Panthers tied the game with a 14-yard rushing touchdown by Liam Servaes with 5:12 left in the first quarter. Conway Christian retook a 12-6 lead on a 6-yard pass on 4th and goal with right under four minutes left in the half and North Platte responded with an 11-play, 58-yard scoring drive capped off with a 6-yard rush by Colton Kirkham to tie the game with 13 seconds on the clock.
“We practice that two-minute scenario multiple times per week, most of the time with less time on the clock and less time outs than what they usually have. They finally got the hang of that of ‘hey, we need to go tempo, get on the ball, get snaps and runs some plays,’” Quigley said.
North Platte came out of the locker room and dominated for the final 24 minutes, scoring 30 unanswered points in the third quarter alone. The Panthers drove down the field in seven plays to start the second half and Servaes ran in for a short touchdown on 2nd and goal, followed by a 2-point conversion by Dylan Armstrong.
Dylan Armstrong (#23) returned an interception for a score in the second half on homecoming.
Right over three minute later, Kirkham ran 20 yards into the end zone untouched shortly after a 24-yard completion to Jaxson Carpenter. Armstrong had his name called for another 2-point conversion, and succeeded, then found the end zone again with a pick six on the next defensive possession.
“We just changed our alignment a little bit and did some different things with our linebackers and were preaching screens all week long. Dylan finally saw it and took it to the house,” Quigley said.
Chance Garber scored on the 2-point conversion, and suddenly North Platte led 36-12 with 3:44 left in the third quarter. The Panthers pushed that lead to 42-20 ahead of the fourth quarter with an impressive 58-yard run by Kirkham.
Hayden Gibson knocks down Conway Christian quarterback Xander Stone on Sept. 22.
“At halftime we talked about the score being zero to zero and how we’re a second half football team. We’ve kind of proven that the last couple of weeks, we just continue to talk about doing everything together and cleaning some things up offensively,” Quigley said.
John Winkler intercepted Eagle sophomore quarterback Xander Stone to set up one final scoring drive for the Panthers. Jason Shanks scored his first career varsity touchdown on a 4-yard run, making the score 48-12 with 4:23 left and the rest of the night was a running clock.
Kirkham finished the night with 155 yards on the ground and added 54 yards through the air, while Servaes had 95 rushing yards. Garber led the team with nine tackles, while Hayden Gibson had three quarterback hurries and Shanks had an interception.
The 48-12 victory was the Panthers’ largest margin of victory at home since defeating Lathrop 42-0 on Sept. 24, 2010. North Platte has a huge KCI matchup against Mid-Buchanan (4-1) – who has come out on top in the last six matchups, including the 2022 Class 1 District 8 Semifinals – on Sept. 29.