BIG SPRINGS - Senior Luke Kasten rushed for 225 yards on 10 carries and scored five times, and the Potter-Dix football team finished an unbeaten regular season for the third consecutive year with an 81-28 victory over South Platte Friday night in Big Springs.

Kasten also caught two passes for 34 yards and had seven tackles on defense, including 5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. 

Freshman Dylan Tabor threw a pair of touchdown passes to juniors Caden McConnell and Brayden Kasten. Kasten, junior Jaxen Buettenback, and sophomore Logan Hottell each added a rushing touchdown.

The Coyotes, who also claimed their third-straight district championship, finished with 472 yards of total offense, including 363 on the ground and 109 through the air. 

Hottell led the team in tackles with 12. He had 3 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Senior Naythen Brown was 17-29 passing for 244 yards with two touchdowns to Kegan Beard and Nic Dehning for South Platte. Brown also added a rushing touchdown. 

The Blue Knights, who end their season at 3-5, finished with 298 yards of total offense.

Potter-Dix is just four years removed from going 1-7 in 2019. Since then, they've qualified for the postseason three-straight years, advanced to the quarterfinals in 2020, and finished as the Class D6 runner-up in 2021. This year will be the 15th time the Coyotes have qualified for the playoffs.

Potter-Dix will host Brady (4-4) at 5 p.m. on Friday in Potter. 

News Channel Nebraska will follow the Coyotes throughout the postseason. Fans will be able to listen to every game on 98.7 FM, newschannelnebraska.com and the free NCN app. 

Hay Springs (5-3) is the No. 10 seed and will be at No. 7 Cody-Kilgore (6-2) next Friday. No. 2 Arthur County (8-0) hosts No. 15 Wilcox-Hildreth (4-4) in the first round next week. 

 Other Nebraska Panhandle teams in the postseason, include Gordon-Rushville as the No. 8 seed in Class C2. They'll host #9 Battle Creek. No. 5 Mitchell hosts Cedar Catholic.

No. 3 Scottsbluff was the only school west of Grand Island to make the Class B field. They'll host Plattsmouth (4-5) on Friday.

NSAA Playoff Brackets: