North Platte junior Westin Snook threw his first postseason touchdown in the Panthers 59-14 district victory over Wellington-Napoleon.
DEARBORN – Getting a week off from playing football ended up recharging North Platte (9-1) as the Panthers erupted for not only their largest postseason margin of victory in more than 15 years but also their most points scored in any game in that time frame on Nov. 3.
Having earned the No. 1 seed in the Class 1 District 3 Tournament, North Platte had a week off before taking on Wellington-Napoleon (3-8) in what ended up being its final 11-man football game for the time being. The Tigers will be moving to 8-man next season and had a rude awakening against the Panthers, which ended up being a 59-14 blowout.
Dylan Armstrong got the ball rolling right under seven minutes left in the first quarter when he took a pitch from Colton Kirkham and ran in for six. Jesse Williams added another rushing touchdown in the first quarter and Armstrong converted the 2-point conversion.
Westin Snook got in on the action in the second quarter when the backup quarterback threw his first career postseason touchdown on a 5-yard pass to Armstrong, who went on to kick the following PAT through the uprights. The Panthers’ offense kept rolling and went into the locker room up 44-0.
North Platte senior Chance Garber brings in a pass in the end zone on Nov. 3.
North Platte outscored Wellington-Napoleon 15-14 in the second half with a running clock. Jason Shanks and Armstrong both ran in for a pair of touchdowns on a night where 11 different players had a rushing attempt.
North Platte only had to throw the ball 11 times with three different players completing a pass and eight different players catching a pass. Kirkham led the way with 54 passing yards and Snook added 35 yards, while Shanks completed his only pass of the night for 22 yards.
The Tigers threw four interceptions, two of which were caught by Jaxson Carpenter. Cooper Kirkham and Colton Kirkham made their parents proud, both walking away with a pick and a pass break up.
The Panther defense forced nine sacks as Owen Stockbauer and Armstrong both had two apiece. Hayden Gibson, Will Hartigan, Chance Garber, Williams and Carpenter all recorded one sack as well.
North Platte has advanced to take on fourth-seeded Crest Ridge with Chilhowee (7-3) in the Class 1 District 3 Semifinals on Nov. 10. The Cougars have only played three teams with a winning record all season and lost all games by a combined score of 20-119.