The opening round of the Class D1 and D2 state football playoffs took place Thursday around the state. South Loup advanced to the round of 16 in the D1 playoff bracket with a 22-14 win over Perkins County. Perkins County handed South Loup one of its two regular season losses this year but the rematch went the way of the Bobcats. South Loup scored first on a 61 yard touchdown pass from Dylan Pandorf to Ethan Furne with 6:12 remaining in the 2nd quarter to make the score 8-0 which was the score at the half. The Bobcats would extend the lead to 16-0 on an 11 yard touchdown run by Conner Paulsen in the 3rd quarter. After Perkins County cut the lead to 16-6, Dylan Pandorf came up with a critical interception which he returned to inside the PC 5 yard line to set up Conner Paulsen’s second touchdown run of the night to put the Bobcats up 22-6. Perkins County scored late in the 4th to make it a one possession game but South Loup recovered the onside kick to hang on for a 22-14 win and improve their overall record to 7-2 and advance to the next round of the playoffs where they will play at Summerland on 11/1
Sandhills Valley pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the night in Class D1. The Mavericks entered the playoffs as the #15 seed on the west of the bracket and faced undefeated Pleasanton who had beaten them 62-20 the week before but this night belonged to Sandhills Valley as the Mavericks pulled off the upset 42-20 to advance to the next round. Sandhills Valley will play at Sandy Creek in the second round on Friday (11/1).
Speaking of upsets, the Twin Loup Wolves were on the edge of qualifying for the Class D2 state playoffs getting in as the #16 seed on the west side of the bracket and went on the road to face undefeated and top seed Loomis. When it was over, Loomis had suffered its first loss of the season and Twin Loup was advancing to the next round of the playoffs with a thrilling 36-34 win. Twin Loup will play at Archangels Catholic next Friday (11/1).
In other area playoff action, Sandhills/Thedford rolled into the 2nd round of the D2 playoffs with a 68-12 win over Maxwell. Mullen saw its season come to an end as the Broncos fell to Axtell in the opening round of the D2 playoffs 44-20. Sandhills/Thedford will host Axtell in the round of 16 on Friday (11/1)
In six man football, Ansley/Litchfield and SEM wrapped up their regular seasons on Thursday. SEM completed the regular season undefeated with a 64-39 win over Wallace while Ansley/Litchfield fell to Stuart 53-21 to finish the regular season at 5-3. The six man football playoffs begin next week.
D1 Playoff Scores
Sandy Creek 63, Niobrara-Verdigre 14
DCS 62, Boyd County 16
Plainview 44, East Butler 7
Bridgeport 34, Ravenna 30
Summerland 45, Elkhorn Valley 8
South Loup 22, Perkins County 14
North Platte St. Pat’s 56, Hemingford 28
EMF 50, Hartington-Newcastle 20
Shelby-Rising City 70, McCool Junction 6
Arapahoe 21, Sutton 16
GACC 20, Pender 12
Crofton 64, Bloomfield 22
Lourdes Central Catholic 52, Wisner-Pilger 30
Stanton 52, Clarkson-Leigh 18
Sandhills Valley 42, Pleasanton 20
Thayer Central 36, Johnson-Brock 30
D2 Playoff Scores
BDS 42, Lyons-Decatur Northeast 18
Riverside 68, Winside 16
Overton 61, Hyannis 14
Wynot 44, Palmer 6
St. Mary’s 52, Cambridge 12
Bancroft-Rosalie 64, Fullerton 54
Kenesaw 68, Ainsworth 42
High Plains Community 22, Lawrence-Nelson 20
Sandhills/Thedford 68, Maxwell 12
Creighton 34, Weeping Water 18
Axtell 44, Mullen 20
Twin Loup 36, Loomis 34
Central Valley 62, Elm Creek 8
Hitchcock County 30, Wilcox Hildreth 28
Archangels Catholic 50, EPPJ 22
Howells Dodge 44, Elmwood Murdock 0
