North Platte powers past Windsor to reach state semifinals for 1st time since 1998

DEARBORN, Mo. — Jared Quigley took players and coaches on a short field trip right after school on Friday — very short.

North Platte’s second-year coach led the way to the school’s trophy case to provide a glimpse into past successes. He knew the current crop of Panthers were ready to take a shot at creating their own legacy later that night in the Class 1 District 3 title game at North Platte High School.

Make room for a new championship plaque.

North Platte senior running back Liam Servaes ran for three touchdowns in the first half and senior quarterback Colton Kirkham added three more — one rushing, one passing and one on a punt return — in a 42-6 blowout of Windsor. For just the third time in program history, the Panthers earned a district championship. This marked the first since 2009 and advances them to next week’s state semifinals against Milan (11-1).

The last trip to that round for North Platte came on the way to the 1998 Class 1A state title.

“Coming in last year, my big push was just for the kids to be all in. That was our slogan for the year. I wanted complete buy-in to our program, and the boys did a great job of doing that,” said Quigley, still clutching the Class 1 District 3 championship trophy after leading one of the starkest and swiftest two-year turnarounds imaginable. “You can tell by the way they play, they are very confident when they go out there. I think that says a lot about our coaches and what they do in boosting kids up and getting them to believe in themselves.”

Playing in a district title game for the first time since 2015, North Platte (11-1) never trailed and scored on four straight possessions to start the game.

Windsor (8-4) answered the initial touchdown with a long drive for a tying score but found little success from that point on and faced a running clock for the majority of the second half. North Platte senior cornerbacks Jason Shanks and Jaxson Carpenter recorded interceptions on back-to-back possessions on both sides of the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter with Servaes capitalizing on both with short touchdown runs, and the Greyhounds trailed 28-6 at halftime.

North Platte struggled to open the game against Windsor’s misdirection run attack but regularly forced the Greyhounds into uncomfortable downs and distances.

“I think on the first drive we were just overly excited,” Quigley said. “We were doing some undisciplined things and getting a little too far upfield. I think we had a pretty good game plan going in, trying to win the matchups, and I think throughout the rest of the night, we had some pacakages that caused some confusion and helped us out.”

After halftime, the two teams started with an exchange of punts, but North Platte came out on the better end thanks to another dynamic big play.

Carpenter bobbled the ball while fielding the Windsor kick in a sub-optimal start to a trick play. However, he collected and ran right while handing the ball to Kirkham, who picked up a few blocks — the most important one from sophomore running back Dylan Armstrong — while weaving down the home sideline for a 53-yard touchdown that increased the lead to 34-6 with with just under 8 minutes left in the third quarter.

“I saw an open lane, made a few cuts and was in the end zone,” Kirkham said. “For a second I was (nervous), but I saw (Carpenter) got (the ball) clean eventually.”

Windsor’s next drive quickly resulted in a fourth and 5, and North Platte’s defense — led by strong play from senior defensive linemen Hayden Gibson, Owen Stockbauer and Jesse Williams among others — forced a turnover on downs in Greyhounds’ territory. Two plays later, Kirkham rolled right and uncorked a deep ball to Carpenter behind the defense for a 43-yard score.

Kirkham added a two-point conversion to put North Platte up 36 points and start a running clock that remained in effect for the final half of the third quarter and all of the fourth quarter.

The result in hand, North Platte could start to reflect on a journey that started with back-to-back winless seasons in 2020 and 2021. In fact, the Panthers lost 22 straight between the end of 2019 and the start of 2022, which finished with a 6-5 record.

North Platte has now recorded back-to-back winning seasons after having just two in the previous 13 years combined (2009, which ended with a loss to Mid-Buchanan in Class 1 sectionals, and 2011). From 2013 through the back-to-back winless seasons this year’s seniors endured, the Panthers won a total of 16 games compared to 17 and counting in 2022 and 2023.

“I had been watching some film, and I’m thinking, ‘This kid can play; this kid can play,'” Quigley said. “I knew there was a talent here. What it came down to was corralling them together and getting them to believe in themselves.”

Entering on an eight-game win streak since a 23-14 loss to undefeated Class 2 East Buchanan in Week 3, North Platte didn’t want to waste a historically limited opportunity.

Kirkham pooched down the opening kickoff to the right and short of the 20, and Windsor sophomore Chase Hampton mishandled the catch, leading to a loose ball. Gibson recovered the fumble to immediately give the Panthers an unexpected possession.

On the first offensive snap, Servaes took a handoff from Kirkham on a sweep before the quarterback received the ball back on a toss to set up a designed flea flicker pass. Kirkham found Armstrong in coverage for a 34-yard completion down to the Windsor 2. Servaes easily plowed into the end zone on the next play, and after a failed two-point play, North Platte led 6-0.

“Trying to get the momentum definitely,” Quigley said. “The bobbled kick was just luck of the draw. The opening play was already penciled in as the opening play to run, just something fun — something to give us a spark.”

“We’d been practicing that all week,” Kirkham added of the flea flicker. “I saw that (Armstrong) had him beat, so I was going to throw it up. I underthrew it a little bit — probably would have been a touchdown (if I hadn’t) — but it worked out.”

Windsor completed a third-down screen pass and a trick fourth-down play on the way to a tying touchdown but also failed on the two-point try leaving the game tied at 6-6. The drive lasted more than 5 minutes and set up what looked like a potential back-and-forth battle.

Instead, a 32-yard run from Servaes set up a 9-yard touchdown run on a keeper for Kirkham, and his two-point run on an option keeper to the left pushed North Platte’s lead to 14-6. The Panthers quickly took the ball back when Windsor sophomore quarterback Reece Healy threw an interception directly to Shanks, who returned the ball into Greyhounds territory.

Windsor’s next drive ended on third and long in the second quarter when Carpenter snared a pass on third and long that could have also ended up in Kirkham’s hands with both North Platte defenders both in better position than the Greyhounds’ nearest receiver.

Shanks added a two-point run after Servaes’ third touchdown with under 3 minutes left in the first half. The Panthers were up 28-6 and took the ball back with a chance to score again before the break but committed a penalty on one trick play attempt before Armstrong threw an incompletion on another when he received a chance at a halfback pass.

However, North Platte went into the second half in firm control and taking the opening kickoff of the third quarter. Windsor’s run-heavy offense couldn’t take advantage of the early stop, needing to put together a drive to close the gap and have any real chance of a comeback.

“We could feel the energy being sucked out of them when they had to pass,” Kirkham said.

After the final snap, North Platte went through the postgame handshake line in normal fashion, but then the players let loose. Quigley accepted the district championship plaque much to the delight of the team and fans gathered outside the fence surrounding the playing field. The celebration went to another level when the PA announcer declared Milan the winner of the District 4 championship game against Hamilton — a result that puts the upcoming semifinal back at North Platte High School.

Quigley planned to take the seventh district title plaque in school history to his home, keep hold of the memento for the weekend and then find a spot Monday morning in the trophy room. The winner between Milan and North Platte advances to the Class 1 Show-Me Bowl, and the Panthers have sights set on equaling and bettering the 1998 team’s state title and win total.

The legacy now exists, but a chance to add to the story awaits.

“I think toward the end of last year, they started to believe that they could play, and now, we can expect to win when we go out on the field,” Quigley said.