On Thursday, Oct. 19, the undefeated South Loup Bobcats hosted the first round of the NSAA High School State Football Playoffs against the 3-5 Ansley Litchfield Spartans. The Spartans quickly discovered they were no match for the Bobcat powerhouse offense, as South Loup cruised to an easy victory to remain unbeaten and advance to the next round.

The Bobcats won the toss and elected to defer, allowing the Spartans to begin the game with the ball.

After converting on a few third downs, and marching into Bobcat territory, the Spartans found themselves punting the ball. The Bobcats would take no time marching down the field and QB Trey Connell would connect with receiver Crew Witthuhn for a 25-yard touchdown. After the 2-point conversion, the first quarter would end, South Loup 8, Ansley Litchfield 0.

The Bobcats started off slow in the first but would flip the script in the second quarter putting up 32 points in the quarter alone. Touchdown runs flooded from all Bobcat backs: Trey Connell, AJ Starr, and Conner Paulson. The Bobcat's defense would also continue to hold up as they continued with the shutout to halftime.

The second half would be less action-packed as the third quarter would end with the Bobcats adding on only 6 more points. The fourth would continue the trend with neither team scoring. The Bobcats took the easy victory, 46-0.

The Spartans would end their season 3-6. The Bobcats will play Lawrence-Nelson on Friday, Oct. 27, with kickoff set for 5 p.m. in Callaway.

Stat Leaders for the Bobcats are Trey Connell with 140 yards along with four touchdowns, and defensively Rio Remund with four sacks and six additional tackles.

Other notable performances included junior AJ Starr with 62 rushing yards on six carries for two touchdowns; Crew Witthuhn with two receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown; and Conner Paulsen, Harper Johnson, Jamie Tickle, and Lance Wooters each recording a tackle for lost yardage.