The season didn’t go quite as planned for the South Loup Bobcats this year, but that didn’t stop them from putting out their best effort and continuing to battle through to the end. In a disappointing 2-6 season, that in itself is a win for the Bobcat team.

Their first game on the gridiron for 2025 was Aug. 28 on the road against the Hemingford Bobcats, a team that would end their season with a record of 9-2. South Loup fought to get any traction but managed to get into the endzone once in each of the first three quarters. Unfortunately, they dropped the game to the rival Bobcats 44-18.

The next two games saw South Loup taking losses from Hi-Line (28-6) and a close-fought match against Perkins County (26-22), before rallying to grab a pair of wins mid-season.

On Sept. 19 in South Loup’s Homecoming battle against Sandhills Valley, the Bobcats found their stride and whipped the Mavericks 46-6. The following week, the Bobcats served up a shut-out to West Holt, routing the Huskies 28-0.

In the final three games of the season, the Bobcats struggled to get a foothold. Pleasanton won the Oct. 2 game 58-36, and Ravenna took the win the next week, beating the Bobcats 46-8. Their final game on Oct. 16 was on the road facing Arcadia/Loup City, and South Loup once again fell short, dropping the game 32-14. With the loss, the Bobcats missed out on any post-season matchups.

During their 2-6 season, South Loup had 1,657 total rushing yards, and 371 passing yards, for a season total of 2,028. The Bobcat offense averaged 253.5 yards per game. Senior Dylan Pandorf, the Bobcats' starting quarterback, led the stat board on offense, carrying the ball 98 times for 476 total rushing yards on the season. He averaged 59.5 yards per game. Through the air, Pandorf completed 24 of 48 passes, accounting for all 371 of the team’s total passing yards, giving him a completion rate of 50%. Fellow senior Conner Paulsen came a close second to Pandorf, with a whopping 152 carries for 729 total rushing yards. Crew Witthuhn garnered 406 total rushing yards and was a favorite target of Pandorf, racking up 273 yards on 12 receptions. Elijah Cool added 27 yards on 2 receptions, and Callan Witthuhn tallied 37 yards on 3 catches.

Senior Paxton Bierman led the Bobcat defense with 32 solo tackles and 76 assists, with 11 of those being tackles for loss. Paulsen was close behind with 21 solos and 59 assists. Pandorf finished with 22 solo tackles and 49 assists, and Cool compiled 20 solos and 46 assists.

Pandorf and Crew Witthuhn had 2 sacks each, while Noah Anderson was responsible for 1. Tysen Schacher pulled down 3 of the team’s 9 interceptions for the year. Seniors Paulsen and Witthuhn are also credited with 2 interceptions each. The multi-talented Pandorf punted the ball 28 times for a total of 1025 yards.

Wearing Bobcat blue for the final time were seniors Dylan Pandorf, Crew Witthuhn, Conner Paulsen, Paxton Bierman and Caleb Furrow. The Bobcats are coached by Mat Jageler.