The West Platte football team celebrated a district championship for the first time in a decade following a come-from-behind victory against North Platte on Nov. 14.
The Blue Jays used a 33-point run across three quarters to overcome a 15-point second-quarter deficit. The district crowning moment was a long time coming for West Platte, doing it in front of the home fans at Rudolph Eskridge Stadium only made it that much more special.
“The kids are really excited,” West Platte head coach Taylor Gallagher said. “The community was in it with us and really supporting us.”
The first half was eerily similar to the two teams’ previous meeting, when the Blue Jays fell 14 points behind before completing the comeback and earning the top seed in the district. Even though West Platte wasn’t playing poorly, they found themselves in an early hole once again last week.
Ben Horsley brings down a catch for North Platte in their district final defeat against West Platte on Nov. 14. Photo Credit: Michelle Green
North Platte was first to open the scoring with a Dylan Armstrong touchdown run — his first of four touchdowns on the night. West Platte hit back when Jhett Chandler tied it up with a 41-yard touchdown run, followed by a successful point-after from Joe Blake to put the hosts ahead 7-6.
The lead lasted until midway through the second quarter, when Armstrong put the Panthers back in front on a 5-yard carry, followed by a successful two-point try. A West Platte turnover on downs presented North Platte with another scoring opportunity, which Armstrong capitalized on by running it in from the 1-yard line and converting another two-point try to make it 22-7 with 50 seconds remaining in the first half.
Alex Kinslow catches a touchdown as time expires to conclude the first half against North Platte. Photo Credit: Michelle Green
Hopeful of a score before halftime with little time to work with, the Blue Jays made it happen. Advancing the ball into Panther territory, Chandler took a shot to the end zone on the last play of the first half and Alex Kinslow brought it down to cut West Platte’s deficit down to nine points entering halftime.
“It gave us just more margin for error,” Gallagher said. “It took a little bit of pressure off of us to have to be perfect from there on out and that was a big deal.”
The late score symbolized a momentum shift favoring the Blue Jays. After starting at their own 20 with no timeouts, a situation the Blue Jays have constantly train for in practice, they executed the drive to perfection before Kinslow brought down the touchdown to relieve some pressure.
“We weren’t pleased with where we were, but I don’t think we were overly rattled,” Gallagher said. “We kind of kept our heads down and were able to go get those points before half and made some adjustments to some things we were doing defensively at halftime with the knowledge that we needed to get a couple stops.”
West Platte continued its momentum swing in the third quarter, when Chandler found Blaze Masoner on a 31-yard touchdown pass to get the Blue Jays within a field goal. The Blue Jays eventually retook the lead on their next possession when Chandler scored on a 23-yard quarterback keeper, putting the Blue Jays ahead 26-22 after Blake’s extra point.
Blake added on to the scoring for West Platte with a 5-yard touchdown reception before the senior made it 33-22 with his extra point. West Platte completed its 33-point run when Chandler ran in his third touchdown of the night, putting the Blue Jays ahead by 18 points.
North Platte’s Armstrong ended the scoring streak to conclude his career as a Panther with a 7-yard touchdown carry, bringing the visitors back within 10 points in the final minute of the game.
While North Platte came in and changed things up with a less run-centric offense than their last meeting, when Armstrong averaged more than 10 yards per carry, West Platte was prepared for everything the Panthers had in the second half. The North Platte quarterback ran for 112 yards on 29 carries and passed for another 112 yards, completing 8 of 13 passes.
The big running game came from West Platte’s sideline, which turned to Chandler for 164 rushing yards and Brady McMillan for 50. Chandler also tossed for 123 yards, completing 9 of 11 attempts.
“I’m really proud of the kids for their approach and trust in the coaches and each other,”
Gallagher said. “I’m just extremely happy for them to have an opportunity to see the result of their hard work and what can be accomplished when they stick together, grow and continue to get better.”
Next up for West Platte is a state quarterfinal away to Adrian on Saturday, Nov. 22, slated for 1 p.m. Gallagher expects physicality against a tough challenge that the defending Class 1 champions bring, but it will be an opportunity to see exactly where West Platte stacks up against the state’s elite competition.
“Those kids know how to win,” he said of Adrian. “They’ve been a part of a good football program for a lot of years, so they have more experience in this area of playoff football than we do.”