West Platte rallied to beat East Buchanan 13-12 with two fourth-quarter touchdowns Thursday night at East Buchanan High School.

But a loss two weeks ago led to the end of West Platte’s season despite the victory. North Platte hammered Mid-Buchanan 30-0 just down the road in Dearborn, Mo., and West Platte’s loss to Mid-Buchanan in Week 8 left West Platte on the short end of a three-team tiebreaker.

North Platte, Mid-Buchanan and West Platte finished district play in a three-way tie at 2-1.

The first tiebreaker comes from point differential with a maximum of +/- 13 applied to any game. North Platte’s victory put them at +13 overall, better than Mid-Buchanan’s +7 and West Platte’s +1.

That made the Panthers Class 1 District 15 champions, and the next tiebreaker — head-to-head result — gave Mid-Buchanan the runner-up spot by virtue of a 25-12 win against West Platte two weeks ago.

North Platte suffered a devastating 33-16 loss to West Platte last week, seemingly a killer for the Panthers’ playoff hopes.

Instead, they earned their first trip to the postseason since winning the Class 1 state title in 1998. Mid-Buchanan entered at 2-0 in district play and in control of its own destiny.

Instead, the Dragons (6-4) faltered and stumbled into the playoffs thanks to West Platte’s slim victory against East Buchanan. Had West Platte won by 13 or more points, the Blue Jays would have advanced to the playoffs as district champion and Mid-Buchanan would have missed the postseason.

Mid-Buchanan makes its second playoff trip in school history, first since 2003.