Preview: North Platte Panthers vs. Wellington-Napoleon Tigers
The North Platte Panthers will face off against the Wellington-Napoleon Tigers at TBD on Friday. North Platte is coming into the contest hot, having won their last six games.
Two weeks ago, North Platte strolled past Lathrop with points to spare, taking the game 30-15. Given North Platte's advantage in MaxPreps' Missouri football rankings (they are ranked 101st, while Lathrop is ranked 231st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Colton Kirkham was the offensive standout of the matchup as he rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.8 yards per carry. Another player making a difference was Liam Servaes, who rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns.
Wellington-Napoleon fell on hard times earlier this season, but after back-to-back wins it seems like their luck might finally be changing. They managed a 29-24 victory over Lincoln on Friday.
North Platte's win was their fifth straight on the road (dating back to last season), which bumped their overall record up to 8-1. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Gallatin/Tri-County and 2-8 Lathrop (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 37.1% over those games). As for Wellington-Napoleon, their win bumped their record up to 3-7.
North Platte ended up a good deal behind Wellington-Napoleon in their previous matchup back in November of 2018, losing 46-30. Can North Platte avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
