Brock Roblee ran for a team-high 103 yards and a touchdown, Vince Genatone added two more and Kolton Tilford scored a touchdown and broke up a fourth-down pass as the North Platte football team defeated Lincoln Northeast 37-14 Friday night.

“I’m just proud of our guys,” North Platte coach Todd Rice said. “Overcoming a lot of adversity just shows the type of leadership that we have. There were some rough moments in that game, and with our guys, there was no finger pointing or anything like that. They kept their discipline, they kept their trust in each other.”

Aside from some mishaps at the start of the game, North Platte stayed in control throughout, but it took a few big plays and a missed Northeast field goal to help with that.

The missed field goal as the clock expired for halftime would have broken a 14-14 tie.

“Our defense really stood up, forced a field goal, and then they missed it,” Rice said. “They had a lot of momentum at that point.”

The field goal put an end to a rough first half for the Bulldogs, who proceeded to keep Northeast out of the end zone in the second.

“We didn’t scramble, and we believed in what we were doing,” Rice said. “We just talked about being sound, and guys trusting each other. There really wasn’t any adjustment other than just coaching up the fundamentals, and I think our guys came out and responded and did that.”

North Platte missed the extra point, and Northeast took the lead on its first possession off a Connor Gozo 3-yard run. Things got worse for the Bulldogs when a high snap on a punt led to the Rockets getting the ball on the North Platte 2. They scored three plays later on a 1-yard run.

“I give a lot of credit to (coach Dan Martin) with what he’s doing at Northeast,” Rice said. “You can see the evolution and the improvement in their program. They were more physical tonight, more disciplined. They just continue to get better.”

North Platte tied the game at 14-14 when quarterback Caleb Tonkinson — who wore No. 13 instead of his usual No. 8 to honor friend Ryan Kaminski who suffered a season-ending leg injury last week — scored on a 1-yard keeper.

“Those guys are really good friends, and we talked last week on how important Ryan is to our program,” Rice said. “Caleb had asked if he could do that, and I thought it was a great gesture on his part.

“It’s a tribute to a three-year starter that’s done an awful lot in our program.”

The Bulldogs received the second-half kick and scored on a Genatone 8-yard run, his first of the night. Tilford thwarted any Northeast momentum when he broke up a 4th-down pass and caused a turnover-on-downs.

Tilford scored on the next drive on a 9-yard run to put the Bulldogs ahead 30-14. Genatone scored for the second time on the next drive, and a Carson Hoover interception closed out the game.

“Credit to our guys with their discipline,” Rice said. “A lot of big moments. There wasn’t that much separation there for about three quarters, and a lot of little things have got to go your way.”