North Platte senior Jason Shanks helped the Panthers end a 7-year losing skid to Gallatin with a 22-6 win on August 25.
GALLATIN – Entering the fall with seven consecutive season opening losses, all of which were against the same team, the North Platte football team (1-0) ended both skids in one fell swoop by defeating Gallatin with Tri-County (0-1) 22-6 on August 25.
Starting the season with a matchup against Gallatin has been a tradition for the past decade for North Platte, who’s lost by a combined score of 318-61 since last coming out victorious with a 2-0 win in 2015. The Bulldogs’ margin of victory in that time frame has been by 36.7 points per game, but the past didn’t matter when the teams took the field most recently at Gallatin High School.
Gallatin got on the board first, scoring the only touchdown of the first quarter to go up 6-0. The Panthers were driving late in the opening quarter and were around midfield to start the second.
Less than a minute into the second quarter, senior quarterback Colton Kirkham broke loose and scored on a 39-yard scamper to the end zone. Dylan Armstrong rushed in for the 2-point conversion, giving North Platte an 8-6 advantage.
The rest of the first half went scoreless, but the Panthers extended the lead early in the third quarter. With 10:33 on the clock, Kirkham ran in for a 4-yard score – which was set up by a 50-yard rush by Armstrong – and Chance Garber converted on the 2-point conversion to make the score 16-6.
North Platte held onto that 2-possession lead for the rest of the third quarter and put the game away with one final touchdown with 5:40 left in the contest. Armstrong bullied his way into the end zone from the 1-yard line to put the Panthers ahead 22-6.
North Platte went on to win the game by that score, led by Kirkham who ran for 108 yards and threw for 50 yards. Five Panthers recorded a sack and Waylon McCracken recovered a fumble.
Starting the season off 1-0 isn’t something that happens often for North Platte with this being only the second time occurring since 2012. Gallatin is the reigning Class 1 District 7 champion after reaching the state quarterfinals last year, making this a huge win for the Panthers.
With district realignments this season, North Platte is in a favorable position early on. Out of the nine teams who will be competing in the Class 1 District 3 Tournament at the conclusion of the regular season, Polo (1-0) and Lincoln (1-0) are the only other teams who also won its season openers.
North Platte will be at home three of the next four weeks, including two in a row. The Panthers will host Maysville with Winston (0-1) – who they defeated 20-0 to snap a 22-game losing streak a season ago – on September 1.