An early lead vanished in a hurry, and North Platte suffered a 52-15 loss in a KCI Conference matchup with East Buchanan on Friday, Sept. 29 at North Platte High School in Dearborn, Mo.
Chance Chesnut turned a rare carry into a 4-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to put North Platte up 7-0. East Buchanan scored the next 52 points and went into halftime up 37-7. The run of unanswered points included a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown for Seth Kenagy to make it 30-7 in the second quarter.
BREANNA L. CHEADLE/Special to the Citizen
North Platte junior Chance Chesnut looks for running room against East Buchanan on Friday, Sept. 29 at North Platte High School in Dearborn, Mo.
North Platte ended up with just 176 yards of offense, and sophomore quarterback Andrew Hernandez — making his fourth start — struggled for a second straight week. He went 2-for-7 for 16 yards with two interceptions while running for 37 yards on 10 attempts.
With a run-heavy approach, Remington Wilson — a senior — led North Paltte with 44 yards rushing on 11 carries, while sophomore Caine Huffman ran for 40 on three tries. Chesnut, a junior, carried four times for 12 yards after entering with just two attempts on the season for the Panthers.
East Buchanan threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns, and Wyatt Shephard’s 95-yard touchdown on the return of the second half’s opening kickoff started the running clock.
North Platte scored its final points in the fourth quarter on Hernandez’s 18-yard run, and he completed the two-point conversion pass to senior Austin Snook. Wilson led the Panthers’ besieged defense with eight tackles from his linebacker spot while sophomore sophomore Nelson McCracken had two tackles and a sack.
Since a Week 5 win over West Platte, North Platte (2-5) has lost two straight in a tough stretch to close the season. The Panthers now travel to face Class 1 No. 4-ranked Hamilton on Friday, Oct. 6 before closing against Plattsburg (3-4) in another KCI matchup.
Plattsburg will be North Platte’s last chance for another win against a District 7 foe. Currently, the District 7 field has only two teams with a winning record (East Buchanan and Wellington-Napoleon).
North Platte maintained the No. 4 spot after the loss to East Buchanan with Plattsburg at No. 3, meaning the regular season finale between the two at North Platte High School could have a big impact on the final standings.