Longhorns fall to state-ranked St. Pats team on the road, 37-3

North Platte St. Pats showed why they are ranked #3 in the state C-2 football rankings with their convincing 37-3 win over the visiting Kimball High Longhorns this past Friday evening, thus running their unbeaten season record to 7-0. It was a key district game and the win will certainly put st Pats into the state playoffs while Kimball needs a big win this corning Friday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Despite the margin of loss, the Horns gave a good effort but didn't make the plays they needed to against an opponent that plays almost error free and with a lot of talent. The Horns had some scoring opportunities that didn't pan out, due in part to some key penalties that halted drives, or failing to come up with key first downs when needed.

The Irish scored 10 1st quarter points on a 3 yard touchdown run by James Schroll with 6:46 showing on the clock and Drew McClellen kicked a 25 yard field goal with 1:59 left in the opening period.

Kimball scored next with their only points on the night corning on a 41 yard field goal with 6:36 to play in the second quarter with Enrique Cajero drilling the kick right through the uprights. The Irish got another 3 yard TD run from Schroll right before half time and McClellen kicked his second PAT to send St. Pats to halftime time leading 17-3. In the first half play the Horns made some big defensive plays with Jon Withrow in on some key tackles, Colton Stull and Trent Rutledge causing a fumble that Ben Sauter recovered, and Ethan Land saving a touchdown with a key tackle. Kimball was down inside the 30 yard line more than once but couldn't finish. Some passes were so close, but fell incomplete.

In the third period, McClellen broke for a 44 yard run and then finished it out with a 2-yard TD carry but the 2 point conversion attempt failed leavlng it a 23-3 margin. Schroll broke loose for a 31 yard scoring run in the fourth period and McClellen kicked the PAT to go up 30-3. Matthew Ferguson took one in from 1 yard out with 4:21 left in the game to complete the scoring on the night and McClellen's kick made it 37-3 final.

Coach Nick Kuxhausen turned the game over to his bench in the final minutes and behind some good runs by Jaden Withrow and Logan Stahla the young Horns got it to the 1 yard line but a lost fumble with :20 seconds remaining prevented a touchdown, but also showed there was no quit in the Horns as they battled hard to the final horn. That lost fumble was the first turn over of the night for Kimball.

St. Pats piled up 384 yards of offense on 57 plays while Kimball had 172 on 49 plays. The Irish were 4 of 6 passing for 40 yards and 344 yards rushing on 51 attempts. Kimball was 2 of 12 passing for 29 yards and 143 yards rushing on 37 snaps. Both teams had 5 penalties for 50 yards each. Both teams had 1 turnover on a lost fumble. st Pats led in time of possession 29.40 to 18.20 and in first downs 19 to 11.

Individually, McClellen, a 150 pound senior, ran for 167 yards on 21 carries to lead the rushing for the winners while Schroll, a 160 pound freshman had 114 yards on 16 carries.

Kimball's Jonathon Withrow had 74 yards on 18 carries and Jaden Withrow 62 yards on 6 carries to account for most of Kimball's ground game. Colton Stull was 2 of 9 passing for 29 yards with Jon Withrow having 1 catch for 17 yards and Jaden Withrow 1 for 12 yards.

Several standouts on defense for Kimball with Ethan Land in on 10 tackles with 3 solo stops. Ben Sauter 9 tackles with 2 solos, Damien Rutledge 8 tackles, Angel Flores 7 with 4 solos, Michael Ferguson 7 with 3 solos, a blocked punt, and a tackle for loss. Colton Stull 6 tackles and 3 solos, Jaden Withrow 3 and 3, Jon Withrow 7 with 2 solos, Justin Mohr 2 and 2, Trent Rutledge 2 and. Jon Withrow also was charted for 2 tackles for loss and Jaden Withrow with 1 for lost yardage.

Coach Nick Kuxhausen said, "Our kids played hard. We were down inside the 30-yard line on multiple occasions and then stalled out. We had some opportunities but give St. Pats credit, they are a good football team and they out played us. You can't make mistakes against a team like them. I thought our defense really played hard but we had trouble stopping their counter runs. They really hurt us with the counters."

Another tough night coming up this Friday when Kimball heads east once again to Hershey, a team that was state ranked earlier, and a team that scored 28 points against St. Pats while losing 50-28. Hershey is big according to coach Kuxhausen, "the biggest team we will face this year," but he also feels his own Kimball club is more athletic, and also feels this game is certainly winnable. Another early start time of 6 p.m. Kimball time so leave early to cheer on your Longhorns.

An added side light is senior Jon Withrow closing in on another 1,000 yard rushing season as he now has 963 on 144 carries averaging 6.69 per carry. He has scored 84 points and is playing his way into some school records with two games remaining in his regular season play.

Score by quarter

Kimball 0 3 0 0 - 3

St. Pats 10 7 6 14 - 37