Mid-Buchanan gave up some big plays but also cashed in on the game’s biggest play in a KCI Conference opener Friday, Sept. 2 in Dearborn, Mo.
Coming off a big win, North Platte saw a first half lead evaporate on the final play of the second quarter, the first of a series of long touchdowns for the Dragons on the way to a 42-20 win at North Platte High School. Mid-Buchanan scored on runs from Stet Brant and Andrew Brinton in the fourth quarter to pull away.
Brinton’s went for 43 yards.
A pair of touchdown runs from Brant in the first half put Mid-Buchanan up 12-6. North Platte senior running back Ben French opened the scoring with a 35-yard touchdown run, and quarterback Austin Snook’s 1-yard scoring sneak and two-point pass to Parker Rotterman gave the Panthers their last advantage at 14-12 in the second quarter.
BREANNA L. CHEADLE/Special to The Citizen
North Platte senior running back Ben French goes down in the arms of a Mid-Buchanan tackler.
Mid-Buchanan answered with a 68-yard touchdown pass from Brant to Riley Brill on the final play of the half. Brant’s two-point run gave the Dragons a 20-14 halftime lead.
Brill caught a second touchdown pass in the third quarter with James Dunn in at quarterback, and the backup’s two-point run assured Mid-Buchanan wouldn’t trail again. North Platte’s final big play came on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Snook to running back Remington Wilson to close the gap to one score.
Mid-Buchanan’s two fourth quarter touchdowns were the only scores in the remainder.
After gashing Princeton on the way to a big Week 2 win, North Platte’s offense mostly sputtered but not due to the turnover problems that plagued the Panthers the first two games. Almost half of Snook’s passing yards came on the completion to Wilson, and the first-year starter under center finished with 138 yards through the air with Wilson catching two passes for 71 yards.
Corbin Green, a junior wide receiver, snagged a team-high three receptions for 43 yards.
After his early touchdown run, French went for only 64 yards total on 17 carries. Overall, North Platte’s run game averaged just 3.6 yards per carry with fullbacks Wilson and Rotterman held in check. They combined for only 30 yards.
French recorded a team-high 14 tackles (one for loss) and a fumble recovery, while Wilson added 11 tackles to lead the linebackers. Bart Owens, a junior defensive lineman, returned from a shoulder injury against Princeton and posted a career-high 13 tackles, while sophomore Chance Chesnut had 10 stops.
North Platte (1-2, 0-1 KCI) travels to Lawson (2-1, 1-0) on Friday, Sept. 9 looking for the first win against the Cardinals in well over a decade. Lawson enters off a blowout of Plattsburg, having won two straight since a season-opening loss to Class 3 No. 1 Maryville.
East Buchanan 42, West Platte 8
The Bluejays lost their second straight — this one to open KCI play — and endured a critical injury, too.
East Buchanan put up 36 points in the first half Friday, Sept. 2 in Gower, Mo., and Bulldogs quarterback Tyler Schottel threw for 240 yards and six touchdowns — one week after being shut out in an overtime loss to Bishop LeBlond. West Platte scored the final eight points — the first on a 50-yard touchdown run for sophomore running back Gavin Davis and then on a safety credited to Dylan Lock.
West Platte dropped to 1-2 overall after a 36-6 loss to Wellington-Napoleon in Week 2. The Bluejays plummeted from second in the Class 1 District 7 standings to fifth at 1-2.
Wellington-Napoleon (3-0) and East Buchanan (2-1) have the top two spots.
West Platte continues KCI play with a trip to Lathrop this week before a Week 5 rivalry matchup with North Platte. The Bluejays must regroup quickly after fullback/linebacker Kyle Tabaka suffered a bruised leg against East Buchanan, and defensive back/wide receiver Grant Eagen was lost for the season the previous week with a torn ACL.
Tabaka led West Platte in rushing each of the first two weeks but totaled just 10 yards on eight carries against the Bulldogs. All 50 of Davis’ team-high 50 rushing yards came on his scoring run in the third quarter.
Nick Miller, starting at quarterback for the first time as a senior, completed 6 of 15 passes for 37 yards with two interceptions. Noah Johnson (two catches, 11 yards), Quinn Johnson (one catch, 12 yards) and Davis (one catch, 10 yards) were his top targets.
Each team committed four turnovers.
Seth Kenagy caught three touchdown passes for East Buchanan, while Austin Potter and Colton Noll grabbed one apiece. Potter’s went for 12 yards in the first quarter, and Kilgore’s 53-yarder put the Bulldogs up 14-0.
Kenagy caught two of his three in the second quarter and added a 7-yarder in the third quarter to increase West Platte’s deficit to 42-0.