Confidence in themselves and their teammates, a strong defense, and the unwavering legs of Trey Connell was the key to propeling the South Loup Bobcat football team (6-3) past last year‘s defending state champs, the Kenesaw blue Devils, in round one of playoff football last Thursday. The final score was 40 to 6.

The Bobcats have seen plenty of success this year on the field, outscoring their opponents by double digits in 6 games, holding the top ranked teams to less than 40 points, and Connell scoring 34 touchdowns for the season. Going into Kennesaw and knocking out the Blue Devils in round one of the playoffs is just the icing on the cake of a great season.

Kennesaw is a team that likes to throw the ball, as opposed to the Bobcats who have perfected the running game. Nearly every time the Blue Devils threw the ball or attempted to throw the ball, the Bobcat defense was there to knock them down. Rio Remund, Clay Witthuhn, Crew Witthuhn, Lance Jones, and Harper Johnson froze out any chance the Blue Devils had to get the ball off the ground, allowing them just 4 of 16 third-down conversions and 4 of 9 fourth-down conversions.

The Bobcat offense on the other hand, was on fire with 19 first downs, and 7 of 10 third-down conversions. The Blue Devils only forced the Bobcats to fourth-down a mere 3 times all game.

Connell scored the first touchdown and two-point conversion for the Bobcats in the first quarter, to take an early lead, 8-0. Early in the second quarter, the Blue Devils scored their only touchdown of the game to bring the score 8-6. But Connell’s legs itching ready to run and he scored two more touchdowns, one for 44 yards. AJ Starr added a two-point conversion and the half ended with the Bobcats up 22-6.

The third quarter brought two more touchdowns from Connell to further extend the Bobcat lead to 34-6. Starr gave Connell a chance to rest his feet and scored the final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Knowing they had the win wrapped up, the Bobcat underclassmen took the field in the fourth quarter. Dawson Mason, Lance Wooters, Kaden Paulsen, Jamie Tickle, and Dylan Pandorf all contributed to a solid defense on the field.

Connell finished the night with 212 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns. Conner Paulsen added 76 rushing yards and Starr had 73 rushing yards and 1 touchdown.

All teams were re-seeded and the Bobcats were seeded 16th based on wildcard points. They will face off against the top seed, Howells-Dodge on Friday at 4 p.m. in Howells.