North Platte seniors Liam Servaes (#25), Owen Stockbauer (#52) and Chance Garber (#27) share a hug in the aftermath of the Panthers’ 29-0 state championship loss to Marionville at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium on Dec. 1.
COLUMBIA – The end result of the Class 1 Football Championship doesn’t do justice for what North Platte was able to do over the course of the last two years.
As a mist of rain continued to come down on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, MO, North Platte senior quarterback Colton Kirkham rolled out to the right looking for a receiver downfield as the clock ran out. Kirkham was pressured and the ball hit the turf as Marionville walked away with a 29-0 state championship triumph on Dec. 1.
“Where our program has gone in two years is something special,” North Platte second-year head football coach Jared Quigley said. “I’ve seen how it’s brought together not only our school, but also our community – we’ve had great community support this year and it’s been fun to see how everybody’s been rallying behind us. I couldn’t be prouder of our boys for making it to the state championship game, I know things didn’t quite go how we had planned, but there’s still a lot for the North Platte Panthers to be proud of.”
North Platte head football coach Jared Quigley stands for the national anthem before the Class 1 State Football Championship on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Making it to a state championship is nothing short of a high achievement, and the Panthers’ road to Columbia was unprecedented. After being defeated in the 2022 season opener, North Platte saw 22 consecutive losses but continued to improve until becoming the 2023 Class 1 Runner-Up.
“At the end of last year, he (Coach Quigley) was telling us what was going to happen this year,” North Platte senior Hayden Gibson said. “He knew all along; I’m not sure if I fully believed him then, but in a way I did.”
Coming off two seasons without a win, Quigley came to Dearborn and led the Panthers to a 6-5 record in 2022 – which included a 1-1 record in districts and the program’s first postseason win since 2018 at the time. All season long North Platte had the theme, ‘expect to win,’ which led to a 12-2 record, second-place finish in the KCI Conference, a district title and state championship appearance.
Jaxson Carpenter had two catches for 44 yards in the 29-0 loss to Marionville on Dec. 1.
“The first two years were not fun, it was really hard to stick with it,” North Platte senior quarterback Colton Kirkham said. “Then when Coach Quigley came, it kind of lit a spark and I had fun playing football again.”
The Panthers second ever trip to a state championship saw a juggernauted Marionville squad. Not only did the Comets enter the day undefeated but they had only turned the ball over five times offensively all year and their defense had only allowed double digit points once – a 17-14 win over Portageville (10-2) in the Class 1 District 1 Championship.
“We just couldn’t get things going, really on either side of the ball. We had some formation alignment issues, some execution problems, but you’ve got to give it up to that Marionville defense. I knew going in they were going to be a big physical downhill group that tackled well, and their reputation came out today,” Quigley said.
North Platte senior quarterback Colton Kirkham rushed for a team-high 105 yards in the Class 1 State Football Championship.
Marionville set the tone with a 16-play, 60-yard scoring drive that took 8:38 off the clock with only two passes on the first series of the day. The Comets had the ball for more than 15 minutes in the first half and held the Panthers to only five first downs and 66 total yards, but only led 14-0 at the break.
“I knew it was going to be a big physical game upfront where they were going to try to run the ball at us. We were working hard but unfortunately, we just couldn’t get some of those stops on third and fourth down when we needed them,” Quigley said.
North Platte’s first two possessions of the second half began with unfavorable field position. Jason Shanks returned the opening kick to the 11-yard line, resulting in a three-and-out, and then the Comets punted it back to the 1-yard line.
Owen Stockbauer brings down a Marionville player in the first half in Columbia, MO.
The Panthers moved the ball 34 yards until Kirkham had a fumble, which led to a 3:41 scoring drive by the Comets to push the score to 21-0. North Platte got into the red zone in each of its last two drives but couldn’t put points on the board as Marionville put the game away with a 67-yard run and 2-point conversion with 2:36 remaining.
“It was really cool to be a part of this, we haven’t been here since 1998 and it’s been awesome to see the community come together and just support us,” North Platte senior Chance Garber said. “We knew we had to give it everything we’ve got and to play on this SEC stage was awesome.”
Liam Servaes helped North Platte reach the red zone in its final two drives of the season.
Kirkham left it all on the field, leading his team in rushing yards with 105 and in tackles with 11. Jaxson Carpenter had two receptions for 44 yards and Liam Servaes added 43 yards on the ground as those three seniors led the North Platte offense to 33.6 points per game this fall.
“They had trust in me and in my coaches coming in. Somebody saying things are going to be different could be hard after two winless seasons, so they had some trust and faith in our coaching staff. That says a lot about how resilient the boys are, it takes a lot from a kid who hasn’t won a game in two seasons to want to come back and keep playing football,” Quigley said.
Hayden Gibson wraps up Comet junior Braydon Bellah on Dec. 1.
There were 12 seniors top to bottom on the roster of the second most successful team in program history, bumping shoulders with the 1998 Panthers who won a state title and also only lost two games that season. Although the final game ended on the wrong side of a shutout, those 12 left quite a legacy at North Platte.
“I know the community is proud of us. I told all the guys that we have so much to be proud of and we can’t get down on ourselves too much for this game,” Gibson said.