Football · State semifinals · Class D2 · Recap
St. Patrick's beats LCC 70-20, reaches first final since 2004
North Platte St. Patrick's beat Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 70-20 in a Class D2 state semifinal and will play Loomis for the title.
No. 2 North Platte St. Patrick's beat No. 3 Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 70-20 on Friday at North Platte St. Patrick's in a Class D2 semifinal. The Irish entered 11-0 and are 12-0 after the win. LCC entered 10-1. St. Patrick's had beaten Howells-Dodge 25-8 in the quarterfinals. LCC had edged Wilcox-Hildreth 24-22. In the first round, the Irish beat Bertrand 58-22, and LCC beat BDS 68-18.
No trusted play-by-play with quarter, clock, and score-after was posted, so individual scoring plays cannot be listed. The scoreboard checkpoints and the halftime totals that were reported still frame the game.
St. Patrick's led 22-8 at the end of the first quarter. The Irish were 3-for-3 on touchdown drives in that quarter, and Ben Heirigs had 162 rushing yards by then. Heirigs entered the game with 1,287 rushing yards. The Irish led 35-14 during the second quarter and 56-20 at halftime. By the break, St. Patrick's had 293 total yards, had forced three turnovers, and had a kickoff return for a touchdown. Heirigs had five total touchdowns.
The Irish led 63-20 at the end of the third quarter and finished 70-20. Who scored after halftime, and how, was not reported in the trusted notes.
Heirigs finished with a career-high 222 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 20 carries. He also caught one pass for a 3-yard touchdown, returned a kickoff 65 yards for a score and threw a 51-yard touchdown pass, accounting for six touchdowns in all. He came in as the Irish's leading rusher, and LCC had no answer for him in the first half.
St. Patrick's reaches its first state title game since 2004 and its first since moving to Eight-Man in 2022. The Irish will face Loomis, a 68-42 winner over Hemingford, in the Class D2 final on Monday, Nov. 23, at 10:15 a.m. at Memorial Stadium. St. Patrick's beat Hemingford 68-20 on Sept. 25.
Scoring summary
No trusted scoring plays with quarter, clock, and score-after were posted for this game.
Sources
Updates from trusted accounts. Season stats from MaxPreps.