Steve Samual Green II, 29, North Platte and Brooklyne Hope Nunn, 26, North Platte

Marriage Licenses For Lincoln County (Week of November 11th)

As we near the end of the year, MPCC is still offering many courses for everyone to enjoy at the college. Even Holiday courses are starting to pop up as the holiday season is quickly approaching. POST Derek Beck chatted with Jeff Smeltzer from the college about all the upcoming courses. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

(Audio) MPCC: Sign up for the many fun courses at the college!

North Platte, Ne - Miss Nebraska Raechel Warren stopped by the Eagle Media studios Friday. Warren was in North Platte all week, she spoke at two North Platte Elementary Schools earlier in the week in collaboration with the North Platte Public Schools Foundation. Thursday evening Warren picked up the dress she's wearing in the Miss America Pageant from Hirshfeld's.&nbsp;

Saturday she is in Alliance for the Miss Alliance and Miss Panhandle's Teen contest. Raechel Warren will be back in North Platte on Saturday, December 7 at Venvue 304 for her send-off party before the Miss America Pageant. The Public is invited to that event.

Enjoy the full conversation with Derek Beck sponsored by North Platte Kubota.

Miss Nebraska Raechel Warren spends day in North Platte, in Alliance Saturday (PODCAST)

The North Platte Community College and the North Platte Community Playhouse is excited to present "Little Shop of Horror" which kicks off tonight at the Historic Fox Theatre in Downtown North Platte. Showtime for tonight and tomorrow are 7:30pm and Sunday is at 2:00pm. If you can't make it this week, more showtimes will be available Nov. 22nd-24th.

POST news director chatted with Caleb Allen and Anja Tejral both members of the play. To learn more, check out the podcast below or c<a href="https://northplattepost.com/posts/d32d9cf6-5f36-4562-8364-675225a76b09">lick here.</a>

***Interview originally aired on 11/14/24.

(Audio ) Little Shop of Horror premieres tonight! 

The Salvation Army in North Platte is gearing up for the 2024 Holiday Season with the ringing of the bells beginning on Monday. If you would like to sign up to ring, click here. Post news director Canon Rath chatted with Camon Landry from the Salvation Army about the upcoming holiday season. To learn more, check out the podcast below.

(Audio) Salvation Army gearing up for the 2024 Holiday season

The annual Keith County Craft Fair is this Saturday from 9am-2pm Mountain Time at the Keith County Fairgrounds in Ogallala. Derek Beck spoke with Keith County Chamber's Tawny Craig about the upcoming event which will have over 40 vendors from Nebraska and Colorado. (Click Play to listen to conversation, sponsored by NP Kubota)

Keith County Craft Fair this Saturday (Conversation with Tawny Craig)

North Platte, Neb. - Registrations are now open until November 17th for the upcoming 3rd-6th grade Kwik Stop Youth Basketball League in North Platte. Those who are interested in signing up can sign as an individual or as a team. Many area teams have already signed up. The league starts on December 7th. You can register at the Rec Center or at Sports Shoppe.&nbsp;

Post news director Canon Rath chatted with Travis Klein about the upcoming league. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

(Audio) Registrations open for the 3rd-6th grade Kwik Stop Youth Basketball League

North Platte, Neb. - MCF 27:&nbsp;Salute to the Veterans 4, is quickly approaching this Saturday at the D&amp;N Event Center and tickets are going fast. The doors open at 4:30pm with the fights set to start at 6:00pm. To purchase tickets, <a href="https://events.humanitix.com/mcf-27-salute-to-veterans-iv/tickets">click here. </a>POST Sports Director caught up with a couple of the fighters, Jareb and Zach Huerta before this Saturdays fight. To check out their conversation, listen to the podcast below.

(Audio) MCF 27: Salute to the Veterans 4, meet the fighters Jareb and Zach Huerta 

On today's episode of Knight's Weekly, we sat down with Jacob Brandl, Head Coach of the North Platte Community College Men's Basketball team, to discuss the first two games of the season in Wyoming and prepare you for this week's action.

(Audio) Knight's Weekly featuring North Platte Community College Men's Basketball Coach Jacob Brandl

Night at the Museum with Dad is set for Monday, Nov.4th from 5:30pm - 7:30pm at the North Platte Area Children's Museum. The event is free to attend and activities for all ages will be available. Post news director Canon Rath chatted with Dara Cisneros from the Lutheran Family Services about this event. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

(Audio) Night at the Museum with Dad set for Monday

North Platte, Neb. - 4-H is America's largest youth development program across the United States that helps learn skills that will last a lifetime. The age requirement for 4-H is the ages of 8-18. There are many different categories that 4-H'ers can participate in during their time in the program including the clothing project.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Local 4-H'r Oakley Staab recently got involved with 4-H and doing different categories working with animals and even sewed a pillow for the clothing project. Staab comes from a long history of having family being involved with 4- H.

Post News Director Canon Rath talked with 4-H'r Oakley Staab and 4-H Development Extension Educator Caitlyn Jacobson.&nbsp; If you would like to learn more in-depth on the clothing project and Staab involvement with 4-H, check out the podcast above. To follow along on Facebook for more information about Lincoln, Logan or McPherson Counties 4-H, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LLM4h">click here</a>&nbsp;or for their website,&nbsp;<a href="https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/lincolnmcpherson/?fbclid=IwAR14YEAUI3fP9PwgydGtWvFLZyWMmc8p1vwQBk9gs8GkhzWK1THrQjZq3eI">click here.</a>&nbsp;

(Audio) 4-H'r Oakely Staab Chats About the Clothing Project and More!

The Hot Sheets: November 17th, 2024

North Platte Post&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Connection Homeless Shelter sponsorship program has been off to a great start since being created earlier this fall. On Nov. 20th, Raisin Canes and the Connection Homeless Shelter will be coming together from 5:00pm-9:00pm with meals purchase, Canes will donate a portion back to the homeless shelter. Make sure to let Canes know you are there for the Connection Homeless Shelter fundraiser event. 

Earlier in the week, POST news director Canon Rath chatted with Ashley Lewis about these topics. To learn more, check out the podcast below.&nbsp;

(Audio) Connection Homeless Shelter November conversation

The Hot Sheets: November 16th, 2024

&nbsp; Nebraska Extension will host a grain marketing workshop for farmers in Oshkosh on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Berea Lutheran Church, 2874 Hwy 27, between Oshkosh and Chappell.

Nebraska Extension Educator Jessica Groskopf will discuss the basis, bears, bulls, long, short, and more in the workshop and use real audio and video examples. The workshop will help you decode the “market talk.”&nbsp;

“With harvest complete, it is time for farmers to develop a marketing plan,” said Groskopf. “This workshop is an opportunity to look at the coming year and the forces driving the current grain market conditions.”

Pre-registration is encouraged. To register, call the Garden County Extension Office at 308-772-3311.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Grain marketing workshop scheduled in Oshkosh

&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://flatwaterfreepress.org/author/nalamdari/">Natalia Alamdari</a>,&nbsp;Flatwater Free Press

NORTH PLATTE – In light, cursive script, she strings newly learned verbs into sentences.&nbsp;

She sounds out each foreign syllable, practicing with the volunteer teacher.&nbsp;

“Yo escucho, tu escuchas,” Janet Evans recites.&nbsp;I listen. You listen.&nbsp;

“It would take me 100 years to say anything to anyone,” the retired North Platte doctor jokes.&nbsp;

Evans is one of 53 people signed up for this Spanish class organized by the nonprofit HOPE-Esperanza. The goal for this group of English-speaking 911 dispatchers, doctors, city and county employees, ranchers, police officers and business owners: communicate better as North Platte prepares for the opening of a massive new meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

“If you want to go to Spain or Mexico, this isn’t the class for you,” said TinaMaria Fernandez, founder of the nonprofit. “There’s a need in our community. How do we help communicate with each other to provide safety and welcoming?”

In the spring, the rancher-owned meatpacking plant Sustainable Beef will open in this west-central Nebraska city of 22,523. The plant is expected to add 2,500 people to town, as employees and their families move to fill the predicted 800 jobs, making it the city’s third-largest employer.

City leaders say it’s a boon for North Platte, a rare growth opportunity after decades of stagnation.

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But in the years since the plant was announced in 2021, City Council meetings have also been peppered with complaints about the project – worry over the smell. Traffic on South Newberry Road. Harm to nearby wetlands.&nbsp;

And assumptions about the plant’s future employees, complaints about its yet-to-arrive people. Residents have pointed to Grand Island and Lexington, and the meatpacking plants that helped to demographically transform those towns, as cautionary tales.&nbsp;

They fear North Platte will change. They fear its future.&nbsp;

“These jobs that we’re getting are not for North Platte people,” resident Chuck McCarty said at a City Council meeting in August 2021.&nbsp;

“They are for the people that are coming across the border,” he said. “Obviously illegal.”&nbsp;

Echoes rattle through the gray concrete and metal insides of the Sustainable Beef plant, as construction workers hang the labyrinth of chains where strung-up cattle will soon be pulled through this 556,000-square-foot facility.&nbsp;

Soon, this assembly line will process 1,500 head of cattle, hauled in on 45 semi-trucks, each day. That’s an astonishingly ambitious number – fully 1.5% of the nation’s fat cattle, CEO David Briggs said.&nbsp;

“It’s right in the middle of cattle country,” Briggs said. “We’re right in the center of the country and I-80.” North Platte, he says, is “a natural fit.”

Since its announcement in 2021, Sustainable Beef has said it hopes to woo experienced meatpackers with better working conditions: a single, family-friendly daytime shift; decent wages; and a top-notch facility.&nbsp;

The idea is that meatpackers from places like Lexington, Grand Island and nearby states will leave their jobs for Sustainable Beef, growing North Platte’s population base and reversing a decades-long stall and slide.

In 1980, North Platte stood at 24,509 residents. It had grown by 5,000 people during the 1970s, and proudly hailed itself as the largest Nebraska city outside the Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island metros.&nbsp;

That same year, the trucking company Consolidated Freightways relocated employees to Las Vegas and Lincoln.&nbsp;

“I remember driving down one of the busier streets in North Platte. I’m not exaggerating – about every third house was for sale,” said Mayor Brandon Kelliher, a North Platte native. “I don’t know how many people moved out, but it was noticeable, even for a kid.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

The trucking company’s departure kicked off three decades of population inching up or down, never breaking past 25,000 people.

With Union Pacific as its largest employer, North Platte’s size stayed yoked to the success and struggles of the railroad, Kelliher said.&nbsp;

“People just say, ‘well, I can’t find a good job here, so I’m going to go somewhere else,’” Kelliher said. “And they leave. It’s that simple.”&nbsp;

Then, from 2010 to 2020, the city shrank by 1,343 people – a blaring alarm bell to leaders like City Council President Jim Nisley.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sustainable Beef is expected to grow the population by roughly 10%, they say. It will fill empty seats in the school. It’s already helped bring hundreds of new apartments to the community.

It’s also bringing fear and anger, with much of it revolving around the meatpacking employees themselves, said the Rev. Steve Meysing, rector at North Platte’s Episcopal Church of Our Savior.

North Platte is the county seat of Lincoln County, which just voted 77% for Donald Trump after he promised an immigration crackdown and mass deportations. In public and private conversations, North Platte residents shared their fears: The new employees’ language. Their religion. Their immigration status. Their alleged criminality.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It didn’t take long before all the dark concerns of long-term residents were being named,” Meysing said.&nbsp;

Letters to the editor poured into the North Platte Telegraph.

“The only ones profiting from this will be the investors and the illegals,” resident Dee Fugate wrote to the paper. She appeared at a planning commission meeting and termed the project “a nightmare.”

“Are they in cahoots with Joe Biden? Or just looking to turn this wonderful small town into Lexington II?” wrote Lora Bevington.&nbsp;

“Most of these people that work at these plants are immigrants,” resident Jim Jackson said in December 2021. “Quite a few of them are illegal immigrants. What’s it going to do to the crime rate in North Platte?”&nbsp;

Before a packed room in March 2021, resident Josh Empfield spoke one question into the microphone: “Where are we going to put the prison?”&nbsp;

Laughter rippled through the crowd.&nbsp;

In Nebraska, industries like meatpacking and manufacturing do rely on immigrants, so much so that more than 60 Nebraska organizations – including the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Nebraska Cattlemen and the Nebraska Dairy Association – joined to publicly call for more generous federal immigration policies.&nbsp;

Plants like Sustainable Beef – and the lack of locals to staff them – have largely driven the diversification and population growth of rural Nebraska communities since the 1990s.&nbsp;

From 2010 to 2020, 16 different rural Nebraska counties grew, with 100% of that growth driven by Nebraskans of color, census data shows – largely first- and second-generation immigrants.

And like in other communities transformed by immigration, those potential changes have sparked anxiety.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“They definitely have the right to be concerned about their town changing, it’s their town,” Kelliher said. “What I feel like the government and city needs to do, is make sure that we’re communicating what is actually happening. Because if you’re living in a small town, boy, rumors are rampant.”&nbsp;

Drive an hour east of North Platte and you’ll hit Lexington – population 10,248 and home to a massive Tyson meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

Like much of rural Nebraska, the 1980s farm crisis hammered this town, when Sperry New Holland, a combine manufacturer, closed its Lexington plant and Dawson County saw an 11% population nose dive.&nbsp;

But in 1988, Iowa Beef Processors announced it would buy the old combine factory and turn it into a meatpacking plant.&nbsp;

At the time, IBP said its labor force would max at 1,300. Company managers told reporters they planned to “hire as many workers as possible from the immediate area.”&nbsp;

Instead, by the mid ’90s, the company employed 2,300 workers – most Latino immigrants, according to a 1997 University of Nebraska at Omaha case study on the city.&nbsp;

There are echoes of those workforce promises in North Platte. Sustainable Beef has said it expects to hire 800 workers, and that about 300 likely already live within 60 miles of North Platte.&nbsp;

“At this time, we do expect all our employees to come from within the United States,” CEO Briggs said in an interview, while declining to elaborate on recruitment tactics.&nbsp;

The opening of IBP prompted Lexington’s population to skyrocket from 6,601 in 1990 to past 10,000 a decade later. And all of Lexington’s growth was Latino, with that population jumping by 4,972 residents in 10 years.

In North Platte, the dynamics of a population increase should look and feel different because of its size, said Kelliher, the mayor. North Platte already has 23,390 residents and expects about a 10% population bump, nothing close to Lexington’s near doubling.&nbsp;

Still, the mayor knows there will be turbulence ahead.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“One of the biggest messages that the folks from Lexington presented to us is no matter how well you prepare, there’s going to be things that happen that you didn’t even know were going to be an issue,” Kelliher said.

Housing consultants in Lexington originally thought the city needed 334 new units. It wasn’t nearly enough – more than half the families surveyed in the UNO case study reported they had difficulty finding homes.&nbsp;

By 1992, consultants realized Lexington actually needed twice as much new housing as had been recommended.

But in North Platte, there’s already much more building happening, with 2,000 new housing units, a mix of houses and apartments, in various stages of development.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“That is very, very significant for a community that’s only built between 20 and 30 new housing units a year for the last few decades,” said Gary Person, president and CEO of North Platte Area Chamber &amp; Development Corporation.

Crime is also on some North Platte residents’ minds. People point to meatpacking communities like Grand Island and Lexington as examples of what they fear.

But that fear obscures the fact that, today, North Platte’s crime rate is higher than Lexington’s. North Platte crime is in fact higher than every other similar sized city with a meatpacking plant in Nebraska, former police chief Dan Hudson told the North Platte Telegraph.

“For us to automatically assume that if this group of people or that group of people come into our community, that it’s going to be a problem, I think that’s a far reach,” Hudson said in a work session focused on Sustainable Beef.&nbsp;

North Platte is already more diverse than Lexington was before IBP came to town. Then, Lexington’s Latino population was barely 5%. Latinos already make up about 10% of North Platte.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And North Platte Public Schools is already equipped to handle more than 20 languages, Superintendent Todd Rhodes said. The district has three teachers and three paraprofessionals dedicated to students learning English, he said, though those students make up only 2% of the total student body of 3,872 kids.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In Lexington, public school enrollment has doubled in the past 30 years, and about 40% of current students are learning English.

At a July 2021 meeting of North Platte’s Economic Development Fund Committee, resident Fugate voiced her concern over schools: “What are you going to do when you get a 14-year-old boy in a class with a bunch of third graders and he can’t speak English?”&nbsp;

That will never happen, Rhodes said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“Our high school kids are high school kids,” he said. “We don’t have a fifth grader in a first grade classroom because they don’t speak our language.”&nbsp;

When Sustainable Beef was first announced, Evans, a family doctor in North Platte for 34 years, had a knee jerk impulse – fear, she said, that North Platte would become “just like Lexington.”

Meysing, who leads the Episcopal Church of Our Savior congregation, decided to address that fear by bringing Lexington and North Platte residents together, planning a panel of residents from both cities to talk about the future at a time when North Platte was focused on Lexington’s past.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“There are people feeling a lot of darkness, because they’re scared. They’re uncertain about what the future of the community is going to be … a lot of it was catastrophizing too,” Meysing said. “What I said was, let’s learn from those who have been down the road before us.”&nbsp;

The church gathered former teachers, nonprofit leaders and translators. They discussed Lexington’s rocky start with the IBP plant; how the young unmarried men who came to work were eventually replaced with new families and school-aged children; how local churches helped newcomers navigate doctors appointments, school registration and the immigration system.

These discussions changed Evans’ mind, calmed her fear.

“They had ironed out those difficulties, figured out how to live at peace with each other and realized their communities were stronger, more robust and better,” the retired doctor said. “We paid attention to Lexington at the beginning … but we never thought to go back and ask how they were doing.”

HOPE-Esperanza started out of the back of Fernandez’s SUV in 2021. The nonprofit’s founder would drive to church parking lots and parks handing out boxes of food to those in need. Sustainable Beef hadn’t been announced yet.&nbsp;

“If a kid needs a coat, let’s get them a coat. If somebody needs translation, let’s help them make that appointment,” Fernandez said. “And then it became glaringly obvious that this was a much bigger matter.”

Fernandez said that HOPE-Esperanza has helped thousands of people each year in North Platte and surrounding areas. It stocks walk-up food pantries and hands out nearly 50 food boxes each week. It gives donated furniture to newcomers who need a couch or kitchen table. It gets residents clothes, books, shampoo, soap.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A welcoming coordinator helps parents sign up their kids for school and sometimes helps the parents find jobs. The city reaches out to the nonprofit if they need a translator.&nbsp;

Early on, Fernandez said new families would find their way to HOPE-Esperanza maybe a month after arriving in North Platte, often referred by the school or city employees.

“Now, we’ll get calls from people wanting to set up an appointment before they even arrive in North Platte,” mostly through word of mouth and family, Fernandez said.&nbsp;

HOPE-Esperanza is helping the community prepare for an influx of people, many of whom are expected to be native Spanish speakers.&nbsp;

At Fernandez’s recommendation, law enforcement, schools and local businesses now have handheld translators.&nbsp;&nbsp;

With Episcopal Church of Our Savior, the nonprofit hopes to start a neighbor-to-neighbor program, where longtime residents of North Platte are paired with new families to share each other’s cultures, Meysing said.&nbsp;

Sustainable Beef actually plans to use HOPE-Esperanza’s space for job interviews, since the plant offices aren’t finished yet.&nbsp;

And potential employees are already arriving.&nbsp;

“We call them ‘the watchers,’” Fernandez said – mostly Cubans from Florida looking for temporary work as they wait for Sustainable Beef to be up and running.&nbsp;

“As soon as those walls are up and they’re hiring, they’re going to do the whistle and say, come,” Fernandez said.

The day after Spanish class in North Platte, two groups of people came together to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos – the longtime residents taking HOPE-Esperanza’s Spanish classes, and the newer residents learning English.&nbsp;

At each table, they painted detailed sugar skulls. An “ofrenda” honoring family members who have passed took up a corner of the church meeting room. Evans placed a photo of her parents there, to remember them.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

“I don’t think any of us feel like we’re going to be fluent in Spanish,” Evans said. “What we’re hoping to see is both sets of speakers get more comfortable with each other, feel OK making a mistake, laugh about it, move on and get to know each other.”&nbsp;

HOPE-Esperanza has another session of language classes planned for next year, Fernandez said.&nbsp;

Already, January’s Spanish classes are nearly booked solid.

***&nbsp;<a href="https://www.flatwaterfreepress.org/">The Flatwater Free Press</a> is Nebraska’s first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Beef over beef: In North Platte, promises of economic boom smash into fears over immigrants

Mid-Plains Community College will break ground on a new electrical building Nov. 20. The public is invited to attend the ceremony at 4:30 p.m. on the west side the W.W. Wood building.

Due to construction, parking will be limited. Guests are asked to park on the south or east side of the main building on NPCC’s North Campus, 1101 Halligan Drive.

The Electrical Technology program has operated out of the existing facility since 1979. Since then, the program has grown to include an Electrical Automation degree and continues to operate full classes with an occasional wait list of students.

As the demand for residential and commercial electricians has increased, so has the need to adequately train those professionals.&nbsp;

By constructing a new facility, the program can accept additional students and grow partnerships with local high schools to deliver career exploration opportunities. The additional space will also offer state-of-the-art technology and give instructors the space to continue to grow the program, thus meeting the needs of area employers.&nbsp;

The total cost of the building is estimated at $3.7 million.

The North Platte Community College Foundation is continuing to fundraise for the project. Those interested in making a contribution can call (308) 535-3720.

MPCC to break ground on new electrical technology building

The Hot Sheets: November 15th, 2024

North Platte, Neb. – North Platte cut the deficit to one early in the second half, but Cloud County Community College never relinquished the lead to earn the 73-63 win inside the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Saturday.

Alex Harper paced the Knights with 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting from the field, while Trey Summers chipped in 14 points off the bench.

Daniel Nwauzu connected from downtown to help the Knights take a 4-2 lead inside the opening minute of the first half. Cloud County countered with a 12-2 run to stretch their lead into double digits with 14:01 to play.

North Platte slowly cut into the deficit using a 10-2 rally to narrow the margin to four. The Thunderbirds went back to work using a 12-4 run to help take a 30-18 lead into the halftime break.

Knights made the most of their offensive possessions to open the second half on a 12-4 run. A layup halted the rally, but North Platte continued to challenge the Thunderbirds. A 7-4 spurt over the next 2:37 cut the margin to one on a jumper by Harper.

Cloud County countered with a 14-0 run over the next four minutes to reclaim a double-digit lead. Over the final nine minutes the Knights cut the deficit to seven twice, but the Thunderbirds held on to the momentum and closed the game out at the free throw line.

North Platte (2-5) returns to the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Nov. 22. Tip is set for 7 p.m. against the Comets of Western Iowa Tech Community College.

Knights fall to Cloud County at home

North Platte, Neb. –&nbsp;Madison Cheleen&nbsp;led the Knights with 11 points, but a fourth quarter rally helped lift the Hawks of Northeast Community College to a 51-44 win on Saturday.

Cheleen scored six of her 11 points in the first half, while&nbsp;Zaily Mazarin&nbsp;and&nbsp;Nariah Golden&nbsp;each finished the game with eight points apiece. North Platte forced 23 turnovers but managed only nine points in transition.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Trailing 35-32, Northeast outscored the Knights 19-9 in the final ten minutes to earn the come from behind win. The Hawks opened the quarter with an 8-0 run, before the Knights rallied back to knot the game up at 40-40 with 6:16 remaining.

Northeast used an 11-2 run over the next 2:35 to take their largest lead of the game, 51-42. North Platte went cold from the field until Mazarin connected on a baseline jumper inside the final minute. Northeast managed to maintain possession in the closing seconds to earn the win.

Knights finished the game shooting 22.4 percent (15-67) from the field, while connecting on 7-of-30 from long range. Northeast shot 40.8 percent from the field, while generating 22 bench points in the win.

The Knights jumped out to an 8-0 lead on back-to-back three pointers from Cheleen. Mia Wiederin broke up the run with an inbound jumper from the baseline, but the Knights lead stretched to 13-2 with 4:08 remaining in the first quarter. Hawks closed the period on an 8-2 run to cut the margin to five at the quarter break.

Hawks stretched their run into the early minutes of the second quarter to knot the game up at 17 on a three from Aaliyah Jones. The black and gold traded baskets with the Hawks over the final six minutes as teams remained deadlocked at the halftime break.

Knights (3-3) return to the road for the Iowa Central Community College Classic beginning on Friday. North Platte will open with the Tritons of Iowa Central at 5 p.m.

 Fourth quarter surge lifts Hawks past Knights

Kearney, Neb.&nbsp;– The 23rd/27th-ranked Fort Hays State Tigers scored 24 first half points and broke up a 26-yard Hail Mary to hold off Nebraska Kearney,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lopers.com/sports/football/stats/2024/fort-hays-state/boxscore/7879">27-20</a>, Saturday afternoon at Ron &amp; Carol Cope Stadium.

This was the 70th all-time meeting between the two longtime rivals as well as the 2024 season finale for both. Hays (8-3) came in ranked eighth in the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/d2/regional-rankings">NCAA Region rankings</a>&nbsp;but its best chance at the postseason is likely a Texas bowl game. With their third straight win, the Tigers also beat the Lopers (5-6) for the 11th time in the last 12 meetings. Finally, UNK went 3-3 in one-score games this season; they were 1-3 in such contests in 2023.&nbsp;On "Senior Day" things did not go well for UNK in the first half. The Tigers had three long touchdown drives (85, 75, and 75 yards) as well as booting a 30-yard field goal right before half. Meanwhile the Lopers first four drives resulted in three punts and a lost fumble at the Hays 25-yard line.&nbsp;

"Obviously we didn't play very well in the first half in any phase. We were teetering and on the brink of getting run out of the gym," said UNK head coach&nbsp;Ryan Held. "At halftime, we talked about how hard we've fought all year. These guys just kept fighting … we easily could've folded but our 26 seniors did a great job. It came down to the last play so what more can you ask for."

The Lopers more than got off the mat in the second half as they outscored Hays 20-3, out gained the Tigers by 75 yards and returned a block punt 16 yards for six points. That all setup a "Hail Mary" on the&nbsp;final play. Unfortunately, a scrambling&nbsp;Reagan Jones&nbsp;(Wichita) saw his pass into the back of the end zone broken up as Lopers and Tigers were bunched together near the end line.&nbsp;

"Gosh, we're so close. That the hardest part … how close we are. Because this league is really, really good," said Held. "I think we've earned the respect of people in this league. We got picked last and didn't finish last."

The comeback started on the first drive of the second half as UNK marched 60 yards in 11 plays. Jones converted 4th &amp; 1 from the Tigers 34-yard line with a short run and then hit senior receiver&nbsp;Stephen Lewis&nbsp;(Gardendale, Ala.) from nine yards out four plays later. The deficit was then cut to 10 when senior linebacker&nbsp;David Lilly&nbsp;(Wahoo) blocked a punt by Grand Island senior Parker Janky and returned it 16 yards for another TD. It marked the Lopers sixth blocked kick of the fall.

On the Tigers very next play from scrimmage, a scrambling Caleb Heavner tossed a pass to tight end Cale Formaney near midfield. Senior safety&nbsp;Jamere Jones&nbsp;(Frederick, Md.) managed a pass breakup as they were falling to the ground with junior safety&nbsp;Chandler Brown&nbsp;(Whittier, Calif.) Johnny on the spot for his second pick of the fall. However, UNK's drive stalled when a "trick play" was blown up right away and resulted in a 12-yard intentional grounding penalty.&nbsp;

"We tried a couple of trick plays and almost hit on one of them. We were trying to be aggressive. I didn't want to leave anything on the shelf," said Held.

The Lopers next three drives didn't yield any points either as they resulted in two punts and a failed fourth down conversion. However, the defense got another three-and-out with senior backer&nbsp;Devin Guggia&nbsp;(Santa Clarita, Calif.) recording a 16-yard sack. That helped UNK set up at the Tigers 48-yard line with Jones rushing from four yards out and a 24-20 deficit with 6:31 remaining.

The Tigers then had its best drive of the second half, going 60 yards in 11 plays that featured six straight runs by MIAA rushing leader Shane Watts. Using its final two timeouts, UNK forced Carson Ardnt to make a 33-yard field goal with 59 seconds left. The Tigers also could've gone for it on 4th and 4 from the Loper 15-yard line.

On the final drive of 2024, Jones completed passes of 13, 18, seven and 21-yards to give the Lopers a chance. The completions were sandwiched around a holding call. After senior&nbsp;Reggie Anderson&nbsp;(Gaithersburg, Md.) got a first down, UNK "clocked it" to setup the Hail Mary. Safety Mason Perez was one of several Tigers around a bunch of Lopers to break up the pass.

"I'm just so happy these guys kept fighting. Because as a head coach, that's all you can ask for," said Held. "It didn't look good there for a minute. We gave ourselves a chance in the end."

Watts finished with 175 yards on 30 carries while also having four grabs for 43 yards and a score. Next, receivers Jayden Horace (10 recep., 113 yards) and Ryan Allen (eight recep., 108 yards) reached the Century mark as Heavner was 25 of 36 for 294 yards, two TD's and that one INT. He also rushed for 26 yards and a score.

For UNK, Jones was 16 of 29 for 178 yards and totaled 33 yards on nine carries. Junior back&nbsp;Isaiah Harris&nbsp;(Millard South) ran hard and had 63 yards on 15 totes with graduate receiver&nbsp;Shane Dailey Jr.&nbsp;(Bellevue) at 92 yards on seven grabs. Finally, junior back&nbsp;Zane Schawang&nbsp;(Waverly) had nine touches for 35 yards. Defensively, junior backer&nbsp;Anthony Hebert&nbsp;(Corona, Calif.) and Guggia had nine tackles apiece, Jones finished with eight with Lilly at seven and senior end&nbsp;Quillan Felton&nbsp;(Lithonia, Ga.) at six.

"We're not down. The resolve was great today, and we'll move forward. We have a lot of good players returning," said Held.

Lopers Go 3-3 in One-Score Games; 26 Seniors Bow Out

Kearney, Neb.&nbsp;– Senior guard Elania Watson hit a left wing three with 1:28 remaining and Adams State took advantage of 24 turnovers to down Nebraska Kearney,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://lopers.com/boxscore.aspx?path=wbball&amp;id=8044">63-58</a>, Saturday evening in Hays, Kan.

These games are part of a MIAA/RMAC Crossover Tournament. On Friday, the Lopers (4-1) bested Metro State, 74-66, while the Grizzlies (3-2) fell to tourney host Fort Hays State, 77-52. The Tigers faced Metro on Saturday night.

Adams is coming off a 25-9 season in which it made the second round of the NCAA Tournament (South Central Regional). Picked fourth in the RMAC preseason coaches' poll, ASU used a balanced offensive attack and scored 21 points off those turnovers to record its second all-time win over UNK in 24 chances.

In a game with 10 ties and 11 lead changes the Grizzlies used a 20-12 third quarter to take control. Senior guard Angelline Nageak hit three triples in the quarter with freshman forward Taejhuan Hill scoring nine as well. UNK got a bucket from freshman reserve&nbsp;Alex Flattery&nbsp;(Sioux City, Ia.) right before the buzzer to trail 49-42 heading to the fourth.

That's when graduate wing&nbsp;Meg Burns&nbsp;(Ankeny, Ia.) got hot. After Flattery hit a triple to begin the quarter, Burns scored UNK's next 11 points. She followed a layup with three triples that tied the game at 56 all with 4:27 remaining. While Flattery then gave the Lopers a brief lead, ASU tied things up for the final time on two free throws at the 2:16 mark.

Not surprisingly, UNK went back to the well, but Burns missed a left wing three at 1:56. The Grizzlies saw Watson hit her triple and then ASU followed another Burns miss with a mid-range jumper by graduate guard Brooke Rodgers. In the final 41 seconds, UNK missed three more shots and committed its final turnover.

Among Adams starters, Hill had a double double (16 points, 12 rebounds), Nageak had 14 points thanks to that big third with Watson at 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Finally, Rodgers led the Grizzly bench with six rebounds, five assists and four points.

Finishing plus 13 on the glass and shooting 32% like ASU did, the Lopers were led by Burns (21 points and Mullen senior wing&nbsp;Samantha Moore&nbsp;(11 rebounds, nine points, two assists, one steal). Burns went 5 of 9 from behind the arc with 10 of Moore's caroms coming on the defensive end. Finally, Flattery had a productive 16 minutes coming off the bench; nine points on 4 of 5 shooting.

The Lopers visit Wayne State Wednesday night. &nbsp;This is the first meeting with the Wildcats (1-1) since Nov. 2019. &nbsp;

Adams State Uses Late Three, Turnovers to Beat UNK

By: Paxton Ritchie CSC Sports Information Director

CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State will wrap up the 2024 season against an opponent looking to clinch the conference title this Saturday, which will also be Senior Day at Elliott Field.

The Eagles (3-7, 2-6 RMAC) will clash against No. 7 CSU Pueblo (9-1, 8-0 RMAC) in Chadron, with the visiting ThunderWolves hoping to clinch an outright RMAC title with a win. 

Kickoff is scheduled for noon, with Senior Day ceremonies starting approximately 25 minutes before kick. A total of 21 players are due to be recognized pregame.

The game can be streamed live on the RMAC Network. Fans can also listen live on Double Q Country 97.5 and 105.9 or doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins and Sam Parker on the call, or follow along via live stats. 

Chadron State faced a nationally ranked opponent in No. 11 Western Colorado and took them down to the wire before losing 21-17.

The Eagles scored on a 45-yard pick-six by cornerback Jadon Bowen and a 47-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Thomas from Preston Pearson. Western also scored on a pick-six, meaning Chadron State's defense held the Mountaineers offense to just 14 points, well under WCU's season average of 36 points per game.

Saturday's game will be Senior Day for the Chadron State program, with 21 players taking part in a pregame ceremony to commemorate their final games with the program. 

The players due to be honored Saturday are, in numerical order – Simeon Marton, Kyle McIntosh, Brodie Roden, Grant Swenson, Deonte Jackson, Xavier Harrell, Rylan Aguallo, Adam Lynch, Hunter O'Connor, Tyler Smith, Jacob Nasalroad, Brayton Branic, Kwame Frimpong, Vincent Mosley, Tyler Carpenter, Morgan Roper, D'Anthony Smith, Nicholas Gossage, Isaac Abramson, Jamahd Monroe and Peter Krohn. 

The list includes six offensive starters – four on the offensive line (D. Smith, Nasalroad, T. Smith and Gossage) a wide receiver (Swenson) and a tight end (Krohn), although D'Anthony Smith and Nicholas Gossage are unlikely to play due to injury.  

The group also includes two defensive starters – the team's second-leading tackler in Harrell and O'Connor, who has re-written the program's pass-rushing record books while earning two First-Team All-RMAC honors and a 2022 All-American nod – and a special teams starter in long snapper Adam Lynch. 

Chadron State's 3-7 record, and particularly its 2-6 RMAC record, is a little deceiving as five of CSC's six losses in conference play have come by one score, including three by a field goal or less.

The Eagles have dropped one-possession games to nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines (13-12) and Western Colorado (21-17) and have also dropped narrow games to New Mexico Highlands (33-30), Black Hills State (21-18) and South Dakota Mines (24-17). In the Highlands and Black Hills State games, Chadron State missed a field goal as time expired that would have sent the game to overtime. 

Despite the losing record, the Eagles have scored a total of 227 points this season and allowed just 174, adding up to a +53 point differential. That scoring differential is the fifth highest in the RMAC, and the Eagles are one of six RMAC teams with a positive differential. The standings, however, show the Eagles in a three-way tie for seventh. 

The main reason for Chadron State's positive point differential and gravitation towards close games has been the lockdown play of the Eagles defense. 

Chadron State's defense ranks second in the RMAC in both scoring defense (allowing 17.4 points per game) and total defense (allowing 278.0 yards per game). Nationally, the Eagles rank 30th in scoring defense and 23rd in total defense.

So far this season, Chadron State has allowed over 20 points in just four of their 10 games and over 25 points in just one (the 33-30 decision against New Mexico Highlands).

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