Platte Valley faces tough task in SHNH

By DAVID MERRILL Sports Editor
Platte Valley quarterback Regan Meyer breaks his first of many tackles in a scramble for the end zone late in the third quarter against North-West Nodaway last week.

The Platte Valley football team put up its first points of the season last week, but still fell 36-26 to North-West Nodaway. The road doesn’t get any easier for the Longhorns as they host South Holt/Nodaway-Holt in Week 4.

The Trojans come in undefeated at 3-0.

Platte Valley coach Dan Collins said he saw some good things last week, but it was little things that led to the loss.

“I felt the effort last week was good enough to win,” he said. “We had a few miscues and a slew of penalties that I felt cost us the game. South Holt is an extremely talented team. They return a good number of starters with a lot of experience from last year’s squad. Their run game coupled with their effective passing game will be a big challenge for us this week.”

The Trojans are heading into the game confident, but this Week 4 matchup has a don’t-overlook-your-opponent feel painted all over it.

SHNH head coach Josh Petersen said his team is preparing for this game like any other.

“We never overlook any opponent and always focus on the team we are playing that week,” he said. “We never look past the upcoming Friday game. We prepare the same every week, watching film and trying to find schemes that are going to help us move the ball and try to find weaknesses in our opponents’ game that we can exploit.”

Petersen said there is a slight concern with the 4-3 base defense that the Longhorns run, but he said his team’s ability to pass the ball should be able to overcome this.

Getting off to a fast start was something Petersen was concerned with going into the 58-0 East Atchison win last week and his team corrected that problem.

The Trojans will be trying to do the same against Platte Valley on Friday.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Barnard.