The playoff fields for the Nebraska prep football postseason were officially set on Saturday. In Class C1, Ogallala, Broken Bow, Chase County, Cozad and Gothenburg are in the tournament, with the latter two rivals set for a first round rematch of Cozad’s 42-7 win in Gothenburg earlier this season. In Class C2, the St. Patrick’s Irish are the third seed in the west bracket, and Hershey and Perkins County will face each other in the first round, a rematch of the Plainsmen’s 14-7 triumph from the regular season. Class D1’s playoff field features SMC, South Loup, and Paxton and Maxwell, who face each other in the first round. That’s also a rematch, as Paxton dropped Maxwell 54-18 in Paxton earlier. And in Class D2, Wallace, Mullen, Hayes Center and Medicine Valley are playoff bound, with the unbeaten Raiders the fourth seed out west. The playoffs in the C and D classes start on Thursday night.
Category: St. Patrick’s Irish
FOOTBALL: Irish Beat Panthers – Bulldogs Host Kearney Tonight (LISTEN LIVE on ESPN Radio 1410)
The C2-9 district football championship belongs to the St. Patrick’s Irish after a dominating 32-0 victory over the Hershey Panthers last night in North Platte. The Irish victory highlighted last night’s local gridiron action. In other games, Brady topped Hitchcock County 64-42, with Eagle QB Zach Mann rushing for 306 yards and four TDs and throwing for 112 yards and two more scores. Kearney Catholic blanked Gothenburg 31-0, SMC topped Paxton 40-26, and Med Valley ripped Hayes Center 51-12. The prep football regular season concludes with tonight’s action statewide. The North Platte Bulldogs are hoping to go out on a high note and pull off an upset as they welcome third-ranked Kearney to town. ESPN Radio 1410 has all the action, with pregame coverage at 6:30 and the kickoff at 7 PM. Elsewhere tonight, Maxwell hosts unbeaten Hemingford on Homecoming night for the Wildcats. In rescheduled games from yesterday, Cozad plays host to Ogallala and Sutherland hosts Morrill.
CROSS COUNTRY: State Meet Held Today
Three North Platte Bulldog runners will participate in the Class A state cross country meet today in Kearney. Junior Wyatt McGuire, the champion in his district, and senior Ace Haws will run in the boys race, and junior Libby Burrows represents the Lady Bulldogs. The St. Patrick’s girls and boys teams both qualified all five runners for the Class D meet. The Lady Irish are led by Anna and Mandy O’Malley, who went 1-2 at districts. Maggie Vinton, Jodecci Torrez, Alexandra Allison, and Jamie Smith will also run. Joseph O’Malley leads the boys team, which also includes Brandon Adkins, Jared Brosius, Jared Gafke, Tyler Elsten, and Joshua Hernandez.
FOOTBALL: Week Eight Opens Tonight With District Title Clash Between Irish and Panthers
The final week of the prep football regular season gets underway tonight with some big games, none bigger than the clash for the C2-9 district title at Knights of Columbus Field in North Platte. The St. Patrick’s Irish are 7-0 and are obliterating their opponents, with their power rushing attack averaging close to 49 points per game. But tonight they’ll contend with the stout defense of the Hershey Panthers, which is limiting opponents just over 10 points per contest. Kickoff at the home of the Irish is set for 7 PM.
Elsewhere, Brady and Sutherland are playing their season finales. The Eagles play host to Hitchcock County, while the Sailors hope to end their season with a first win as they welcome Morrill to town. Gothenburg is at home hosting sixth-ranked Kearney Catholic, ninth-ranked Cozad takes on Ogallala in Cozad, Paxton makes a trip to take on SMC, and Hayes Center hosts unbeaten fourth-ranked Medicine Valley.
VOLLEYBALL: Lady Sailors Capture SPVA Crown
The Sutherland Sailors handed St. Pat’s their first loss of the volleyball season in the SPVA championship match on Saturday in Imperial. In five hard-fought sets, the Lady Sailors held off the Lady Irish 25-18, 15-25, 21-25, 30-28, 15-12. Sam Kennedy had 22 kills and Jalyne Schuster added 20 for the Lady Sailors in the win. The wins move Sutherland, the fourth-ranked team in Class D1 to 16-5 on the season, while the Lady Irish, number two in Class C2, drop to 21-1. In other SPVA action, Hershey beat Chase County in five sets in the third-place match, and Perkins County topped Maxwell in the fifth-place contest.
FOOTBALL: Week Seven Preview
Week Eight of the prep football season sees several area teams take the field with high stakes on the line. The North Platte Bulldogs can keep playoff hopes alive as they hit the road to take on Grand Island. ESPN Radio 1410 will have the call of that contest, with pregame coverage underway at 6:30 and the kickoff at 7. In a pair of crucial district games, St. Pat’s looks to run their record to 7-0 on the road against Dundy County-Stratton, while Hershey aims to take down visiting Cambridge. If both the Irish and Panthers win, their game next week will be for the district title. In Class D1 action, Maxwell shoots for a third-straight win as they host surprising SMC while Sutherland makes a visit to Paxton in search of their first win. And in Class D2, in the final game of their regular season, the Wallace Wildcats try and finish strong in what could be a thriller at unbeaten Medicine Valley.
Games involving area teams:
@ Dundy County-Stratton: North Platte St. Patrick’s VS Dundy County-Stratton
@ Elba-North Loup-Scotia: Wauneta-Palisade VS Elba-North Loup-Scotia
@ Gothenburg: Ord VS Gothenburg
@ Grand Island: North Platte VS Grand Island
@ Hershey: Cambridge VS Hershey
@ Hitchcock County: Hayes Center VS Hitchcock County
@ Kearney Catholic: Chase County VS Kearney Catholic
@ Maxwell: SMC VS Maxwell
@ Medicine Valley: Wallace VS Medicine Valley
@ Paxton: Sutherland VS Paxton
@ Perkins County: Bayard VS Perkins County
@ Silver Lake: Maywood VS Silver Lake
@ St. Edward: Arthur County VS St. Edward
@ South Platte: Sandhills/Thedford VS South Platte
FOOTBALL: Week Seven Recap
Class A
North Platte 27, Lincoln High 24, OT
Given a reprieve after a defensive penalty on the last play in regulation, the Bulldogs got a 36 yard field goal from Brandon Hedgecock to tie the game and a 26 yard field goal from Hedgecock to win it in the first overtime. Here’s how the winning field goal sounded:
Class C-1
Kearney Catholic 31, Cozad 7
Class C-2
Hershey 49, Dundy County-Stratton 16
St. Pat’s 42, Cambridge 7
Oberlin (KS) 21, Perkins County 12
Class D-1
Hemingford 48, Paxton 18
Maxwell 50, Morrill 6
SMC 78, Sutherland 36
Class D-2
Hayes Center 66, Brady 56
Sandhills/Thedford 66, Creek Valley 14
Wallace 47, Hitchcock County 40
Six-man
Arthur County 46, Minatare 20
Hyannis 38, Maywood 14
FOOTBALL: Week Seven Preview
It’s homecoming night at North Platte High, where the Bulldogs’ clash with Lincoln High is just one of many intriguing games in Week Seven of the prep season. The Bulldogs are hoping to go 2-1 in district play with a victory. ESPN Radio 1410’s coverage of Bulldog football gets underway with the pregame show at 6:30, leading to the kickoff at 7. Elsewhere, the St. Patrick’s Irish return from their bye week to put their unbeaten record on the line at Cambridge in a renewal of a fierce rivalry. Hershey tries to get back on the winning track as they host Dundy County-Stratton. Maxwell makes the trek to the Panhandle to take on Morrill. Sutherland hopes to make some steps forward as they host much-improved SMC. Brady travels to Hayes Center in what should be a shootout, and Wallace hopes to rebound from a loss as they play at home against Hitchcock County.
Games involving local and area teams tonight:
Scheduled Games:
@ Arthur County: Minatare VS Arthur County
@ Cambridge: North Platte St. Patrick’s VS Cambridge
@ Chase County: Gothenburg VS Chase County
@ Cozad: Kearney Catholic VS Cozad
@ Hayes Center: Brady VS Hayes Center
@ Hershey: Dundy County-Stratton VS Hershey
@ Maywood: Hyannis VS Maywood
@ Morrill: Maxwell VS Morrill
@ Mullen: Garden County VS Mullen
@ North Platte: Lincoln High VS North Platte
@ Oberlin, KS: Perkins County VS Oberlin, KS
@ Paxton: Hemingford VS Paxton
@ Sandhills/Thedford: Creek Valley VS Sandhills/Thedford
@ Sutherland: SMC VS Sutherland
@ Wallace: Hitchcock County VS Wallace
FOOTBALL: Week Four Scores
Friday night’s final scores from local and area schools:
Class A
North Platte 17, Fremont 14
PLAY OF THE GAME: Keaton Hope took an interception all the way to the house for the Bulldogs in their first win of the season. Click here to listen to the play: 2 – Hope INT TD
Class C-1
Cozad 32, Chase County 20
Gothenburg 19, Minden 7
Class C-2
Hershey 12, Bridgeport 0
St. Patrick’s 56, Wood River 0
Perkins County 44, Cambridge 22
Class D-1
Hemingford 64, Sutherland 8
Loup City 47, South Loup 26
Paxton 54, Maxwell 18
SMC 59, Morrill 18
Class D-2
Medicine Valley 55, Brady 16
Wallace 64, Hayes Center 50
Six-man
Cody-Kilgore 50, Maywood 20
Wauneta-Palisade 39, Sioux County 28
FOOTBALL: Week Four Preview
It’s homecoming night at North Platte High. The Bulldogs hope to begin district play on a high note and earn their first win as they host Fremont. North Platte has beaten Fremont in each of the past three seasons. The Tigers come to town with a 1-3 record and a pass-heavy offense. This could be a high scoring affair. ESPN Radio 1410 has the action from Bauer Field at Memorial Stadium, with the pregame show at 6:30 and the kickoff at 7.
The St. Patrick’s Irish also play their homecoming game tonight. They put their 4-0 record on the line as Wood River comes to town. The visitors are 1-2 on the season. St. Pat’s has outscored their opponents by the total of 182-25 this season.
Hershey hopes this is the week their offense clicks as they look to get back on the winning track, hosting Bridgeport. Hershey’s defense has limited their opponents to 14 points in each of the last two games, but they’ve mustered just one touchdown in each game and have dropped to 1-2 on the season. Bridgeport is also 1-2, but they’ve allowed 77 points over the last two weeks. This may be the breakout week the Panthers have waited for.
Maxwell is hoping to snap a two-game losing streak as they hit the road to take on Paxton. The third-quarter blues have hurt the Wildcats in losses to Elm Creek and Arapahoe, but the Wildcats will hope their work on the bye week will chase those blues away. But the Tiger team they’re facing is 3-0 and looking dominant.
Sutherland is also traveling, heading up northwest to face Hemingford in their district opener. After being shutout 80-0 by Arapahoe last week, the winless Sailors are hoping they can make some strides this week against another unbeaten opponent.
Brady takes on Medicine Valley in an intriguing district opener. The Eagles opened their account on the winning side of the ledger last week, rolling over S-E-M. Now they take on the team that is the district favorite. The Raiders are 3-0 and are averaging well over 40 points per game.
Wallace hosts Hayes Center tonight. The Wildcats rolled over Loomis last week to move to 3-1. They know a win over the Cardinals would stamp them as a legitimate district threat. The Cardinals are 2-2 after blowing out Southwest last week.
Other games of interest in the area:
Chase County @ Cozad
Gothenburg @ Minden
Cambridge @ Perkins County
South Loup @ Loup City
Morrill @ SMC
Sioux County @ Wauneta-Palisade
Maywood @ Cody-Kilgore