By MATT PIKE
Three North Platte Panther athletes are continuing their athletic career's at the next level, two on the gridiron, and one on the basketball court, as Chase Harper, Brenden Matt, and Cameron Wortham all signed their National Letters of Intent today.
Harper and Wortham both helped to anchor the offensive line for the Panthers football team. Wortham was also a key part of the defense for North Platte. Both played on a Panthers team that came second in Class 1 in 2023, the best finish for the program since a championship in 1998.
Harper signed to play football for the University of St. Mary. He say's the culture the Spires have built is what attracted him to continue his career in Leavenworth, Kansas.
"I was over there yesterday watching them work out, they have a really good bond in that weight room," Harper tells reporters. "I went to a spring game last spring and they just all connected on the field and I like that a lot."
His hope as he leaves North Platte this spring is that he, and his teammates left a great legacy and a footprint for how North Platte football should be played.
"How to set a standard really, the district championships and things like that, like state championship, district championship, district championship, I feel like that's the standard here and hopefully it stays that way," Harper says.
Wortham will also stay close to home, signing his letter of intent to join the Benedictine Raven. For him, signing with the Ravens also comes back to the culture developed by head coach Joel Osborn.
"They have a winning culture, it's everything I like about it just like how we have here," Wortham says. "Just dominant, and that's what I love about it, just dominance."
Wortham says the coaching staff with the Ravens reminds him a lot of the staff led by Jared Quigley with the Panthers, and adds he's heard some good things from Osborn, a coach whose shifted the Ravens program, about the way he plays the game.
"They'll tell you straight how it is and how to fix it, and they like that it's hard to move me," Wortham explains.
For a team that has been on the brink of a national championship the past two seasons, Wortham says the Ravens are getting a competitive player whose going to go win.
After a season in which the Panthers reached their first Final Four in school history, and brought home a third place finish in Class 1, Brenden Matt signed to continue his career at Grand View University.
It was quite the season for Matt, who had a selection of colleges to choose from, before ultimately choosing Grand View. While happy where he is, he says it was a hard process.
"I didn't have any looks or anything until this summer I think, was this summer when I got my first real look when I went to Avila for the camp," Matt says. "It's been a hard process, a lot of times I wondered what I could do better to get more looks and things like that, but I'm happy where I'm at now."
It's quite the legacy Matt leaves behind, with the mass improvement the Panthers have seen, and it's something he knows he'll reflect on as his high school journey ends.
"I mean it's really cool to say I came in and we were 9-18 my first year as a freshman, and we end this year we're 25-4, 25-5 something like that, it's just awesome to look back and think about all the stuff I did," Matt says. "I started every game my freshman year but I wasn't near the player I am now, just a lot of time in the gym and things like that."
Matt is excited to stay close to home to continue his career, saying he didn't want to go to far away. He also acknowledges how much he's grown both on the court and as a person off the court at North Platte.
"I mean I was a little hot head when I was a freshman, cheap shots and stuff I guess people would say, I'd like to say I'm a lot different now, I mean I had a couple instances this year, but you know," Matt says. "I've grown as a person a lot, but as a player, when I came in as a freshman I could hardly break a press on my own, I wasn't a good shooter, I shot like 20% as a freshman this year I shot 46%, and just a lot of time in the gym and that;'s what happens."
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.