On Friday, Nov. 10, the South Loup Bobcats traveled to Dunning to play in a heavily attended semifinal playoff game against the Sandhills-Thedford Knights. It was an epic rematch from the regular season game that ended in a 14-point victory for the Bobcats.

To begin the game, the Bobcats would start on defense, forcing a quick three and out and forcing a Knights punt. The Bobcats took over the ball and on their very first offensive play Trey Connell connected with Cache Gracey for a 60-yard touchdown pass. The Bobcats would fail the 2-point conversion and kick off to the Knights, who would start their second offensive drive.

After defensive stops from both the Bobcats and the Knights, South Loup would once again punch in a score.

The 10-yard touchdown run by Connell put the Bobcats on top of the Knights 12-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Knights would start to take control during the second quarter with a quick score from QB Kyle Cox. The Bobcats, however, would counter like they have done all year with another Connell touchdown run. The Bobcats maintained an 18-6 lead until late in the half when Sandhills-Thedford came up with a huge pick-6 with South Loup starting their drive on their own 2-yard line. The Bobcats remained up 18-12 at the half, attempting to repeat their early season win.

The second half began with South Loup starting on offense. The Knight's defense dominated that side of the ball, coming up with stop after stop, and even tagged on a touchdown of their own to tie up the ballgame. This defense would lead to another score at the very end of the quarter, with the Knights kicking a field goal to go up 21-18 going into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter featured the same dominant defense from the Knights, holding South Loup to scoreless. Meanwhile, their offense would extend their lead at the end of the game after two late touchdowns from Kyle Cox.

The Bobcats ended their season in a heartbreaking loss to the Sandhills-Thedford Knights 18-33 to wrap up the 2023 season with a record of 11-1. The Knights will go on to play in the championship game in Memorial Stadium on Nov. 20 against Wynot.

Next week we will recap the Bobcats stellar season on the gridiron and feature end-of-the-year stats.