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HERSHEY — Cedar Catholic’s playoff foe, the 5-4 Hershey Panthers, have quietly rewritten their script this season — emerging from a recent stretch of losing campaigns into a gritty, playoff-ready squad.
The Panthers lean on hard-nosed play and a heavy dose of ground-game offense.
Hershey, the No. 16 seed in the Class C2 bracket, travels to Hartington for a 5 p.m. game at Russ Hochstein Field.
The Panthers put together a couple of impressive wins — including a 71-0 rout of Gordon-Rushville and a 58-28 road victory at Valentine.
They also dropped a couple of very close games to Kearney Catholic (2922) and Mitchell (41-40).
The Panthers are built around the run.
Their offensive production thrives when they control the line of scrimmage and keep the clock moving. Defensively, they match that tempo with physical tackling and an emphasis on stopping the rush first.
