Football · Preview · Class A
Columbus at North Platte: numbers and the Week 9 playoff picture
North Platte is 19th and Columbus 20th in Class A's NSAA standings, both just below 16th place. Charts, numbers and playoff history before Friday's game.
Game-day information: Kickoff not independently confirmed for this publication. Check the Game Center for current start-time information. This article’s schedules and statistics are dated reporting, not live score updates.
Scores are NSAA finals. Points and ranks are NSAA wildcard standings, checked Oct. 21, 2026. Projections are not official seeds.
Friday's game in North Platte has the feel of a last stand. North Platte (5-3) is 19th in Class A's NSAA wildcard standings at 38.000. Columbus (4-4) is 20th at 37.750. Today's 16th-place mark is 38.875, held by Lincoln Standing Bear.
The game is Friday, Oct. 23, at North Platte. Kickoff time has not been posted on our schedule yet.
The playoff picture
Both teams start Week 9 outside the top 16. North Platte is 0.875 points behind the mark and Columbus 1.125. Both start Week 9 outside the top 16. Their own result and other remaining games can change the final averages; this points snapshot alone does not establish a must-win or elimination scenario. Thursday’s games include Standing Bear at Bellevue East and Creighton Prep at Bellevue West. NSAA sets the final field after Week 9.
Two teams, two styles
Columbus can score. It averages 34.5 points, put up 71 on South Sioux City last week and scored 48 against Norfolk and 54 at Omaha South. Its four losses all came against teams with winning records: Bennington (51-10), Elkhorn South (28-21), Elkhorn North (31-17) and Papillion-La Vista South (42-20).
North Platte has won three straight: 22-19 at Norfolk, 76-6 over Omaha Northwest and 48-13 at Lincoln Northwest. It allows 17.8 points a game, fewer than Columbus. The concern is its losses. In all three, against Kearney (24-7), Standing Bear (19-6) and Millard West (31-7), it scored seven points or fewer.
By the numbers
| Columbus | North Platte | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 4-4 | 5-3 |
| NSAA rank and points | 20th, 37.750 | 19th, 38.000 |
| Points scored per game | 34.5 | 30.4 |
| Points allowed per game | 24.5 | 17.8 |
| Average margin | +10.0 | +12.6 |
| Current streak | Won 1 | Won 3 |
| Last game | W 71-15 vs. South Sioux City | W 48-13 at Lincoln Northwest |
Their shared opponent was Norfolk. Columbus won 48-14 at home in Week 2. North Platte won 22-19 at Norfolk on Oct. 2.
Editorial update, Oct. 21: Program-history claims from the supplied school-history mapping are withheld pending school-identity verification. This does not change the current-season results, records or statistics above.
What to watch
- Columbus's offense against North Platte's defense. The best scoring team in this matchup meets the stingiest defense.
- North Platte's offense against good teams. Its three losses were all low-scoring.
- Thursday's results. Both teams will know before kickoff how much help they got.
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