<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1GuUFy_1GqnXwto00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1GuUFy_1GqnXwto00" width="579" height="800" >They say that defense wins championships and North Platte St. Pat’s showed they are solid in that area Friday in defeating Howells-Dodge 25-8 in the quarterfinals of the Class D2 State Playoffs The Irish notched the win at home on Knights of Columbus Field.The Irish (11-0) advance to the semifinals and continue to have the homefield privilege. They will host Laurel-Concord-Coleridge (10-1) on Friday, Nov. 13.“Defensively, we were fantastic,” St. Pat’s Head Coach Brad Braithwait said. “Coach (Josh) Kramer had an excellent gameplan. I thought our kids executed that gameplan to a tee and that was the most physical we’ve played. Our front seven were physical and that led to favorable down and distances. Our defense was fantastic for all four quarters.”Against Howells-Dodge (8-3), both teams were forced to punt on their first possession of the game. But on the second possession for St. Pat’s, quarterback Jaxon Braithwait found a wide open Peyton Kramer on a play-action pass for a 29-yard touchdown. The extra point by Ben Hankla, who returned after missing the last seven games, was missed and it was 6-0 four minutes into the game“It helped our offense and defense (to score first),” Braithwait said. “They started to bring safeties into the box and Peyton secured it in the end zone for the catch. Once you get on the board, it relaxes you a little bit and gives you a little belief. But honestly, I don’t think it would have mattered, our defense was ready to rise to the occasion.”In the second quarter, St. Pat’s drove into the red zone but Braithwait’s pass on fourth down from the Howells-Dodge five-yard-line fell incomplete.Later in the second quarter, Howells-Dodge got a turnover off a muffed punt by Breckyn Collins. But the Jaguars couldn’t do anything with it and it remained 6-0 at the end of the first half.Four minutes into the second half, the Irish scored again when Ben Heirigs broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run, the first sign the Howells-Dodge defense was starting to crack. Braithwait was stopped on the two-point conversion and the score was 12-0.“We’ve talked about that all season,” Braithwait said. “People have been talking about us playing a four-quarter game and we kept telling our kids that our tempo offense favors us as the game goes along. We just hadn’t had that opportunity (to win a game in the second half) yet and we did tonight. I think we started to wear them down with our run game. Those three, four-yard gains turned into 30, 40, 50-yard gains.”The Jaguars started to gain traction on their next possession but they were stopped once again on fourth down from the St. Pat’s 30.Three plays later, Braithwait faked a handoff up the middle, like the Irish did so many times before, and broke free on the left side for a 40-yard touchdown. On the two-point conversion, St. Pat’s tried a halfback pass with Heirigs that was intercepted and it was 18-0 with 1:15 left in the third quarter.“We don’t ask him to carry the ball a whole lot, we ask him to operate our offense,” Coach Braithwait said. “He made a really good read on a veer and he was off to the races.”The Irish removed all doubt when Heirigs punched it in from two yards out and it was 25-0 after Xavier Pieper kicked the extra point.Howells-Dodge finally strung together a drive and scored when quarterback Chase Luther found Jarrett Perrin for a nine-yard touchdown with five minutes remaining. Oliver Belina ran in the two-point conversion to make it 25-8.It was the only time Belina, the star running back for the Jaguars with more than 2,000 yards and 37 touchdowns this year, saw the end zone.Howells-Dodge attempted an onside kick but St. Pat’s recovered. The Irish kept the ball for the remainder of the game, kneeling just short of scoring another touchdown.With the win, St. Pat’s is in the semifinals for the first time since 2022, where they will host Laurel-Concord-Coleridge, who handed Howells-Dodge one of their two losses in the regular season.“We’re really excited, our kids are excited to play again here at Knights of Columbus Field,” Braithwait said. “We’ve got to get rested up and we’ll prepare like we normally do. Our kids will play well next Friday.”© 2026 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved!</div></body>

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They say that defense wins championships and North Platte St. Pat’s showed they are solid in that area Friday in defeating Howells-Dodge 25-8 in the quarterfinals of the Class D2 State Playoffs. The Irish notched the win at home on Knights of Columbus Field. The Irish (11-0) advance to...

Irish shut down Howells-Dodge in state quarterfinals

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They say that defense wins championships and North Platte St. Pat’s showed they are solid in that area Friday in defeating Howells-Dodge 25-8 in the quarte

Irish shut down Howells-Dodge in state quarterfinals

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