HANOVER, Kan. - Two juggernauts of 8-man high school football faced off for the second time this season with a spot in next week's state championship game at stake, and the second meeting this season ended the same way the first one did. Hanover (12-0) outlasted Axtell (10-2) 34-24 in the sub-state round of the 2025 KSHSAA 8-player DII postseason bracket on Friday night in Hanover, ending the Eagles' streak of four straight state championships and sending the Wildcats to the title game for the first time since 2020. 

Hanover and Axtell have collectively dominated this level of this sport in this part of the state for the better part of the last decade. The Wildcats were the class of the last half of the 2010s, winning four state championships in the five seasons between 2016 and 2020. Since the start of the 2020s, the Eagles have seized the mantle as the team to beat, winning every state title between 2021 and 2024, and winning a class record 58 games in that span overall.

The Wildcats are now the team that has ended both of those streaks. Hanover defeated Axtell in mid-October to hand the Eagles their first loss since 2020; and now, just over a month later, Hanover defeated Axtell again to end the Eagles' run of four straight state championships, a win which also will take the Wildcats back to the state championship game for the first time since they won it all themselves in 2020. 

No one besides Hanover has given Axtell any real opposition this year. The Eagles outscored their opponents by nearly 500 points through 11 games, and were allowing an average of exactly six points per game, thanks to six shutouts, including two in their three playoff games prior to Friday.

Clearly motivated by their loss to Hanover on the same field just a month prior - the first loss any of Axtell's players had ever endured in their high school tenures - the Eagles got off to a flying start. Landon Schmitz dashed up the left sideline 29 yards to the house on the game's opening drive, and then on the next drive caught a pass from Wyatt Detweiler and withstood contact to somehow stay inbounds on the right sideline and then coast 45 yards to the house.

If the Wildcats were stunned by Axtell's early eruption, they didn't show it, because Hanover authored response drives on both occasions - and both drives were capped when quarterback Kadrick Cohorst found a receiver wide open past the Axtell secondary and in the end zone. First it was a 30-yard bomb to Braylon Meyn, and then a 28-yard strike to Lanxden Stallbaumer. The biggest difference was that Axtell converted both of its two-point tries and prevented Hanover from doing the same - and one minute into the second quarter, the Eagles maintained a 16-12 lead. 

There were only two points scored in the second quarter after Stallbaumer's touchdown a minute into the period. And while both defenses contributed to that, the offenses for both teams hamstrung themselves by committing procedural penalty after procedural penalty. It was clear that the reality of the situation - a state semifinal that felt for many like a de facto championship game - had started to settle in for all involved after an electric start to the evening. 

While both offenses sputtered, Hanover's defense consistently revved up in intensity. The Wildcats forced fumbles on back to back possessions in the second period but the offense couldn't score - so the defense handled the scoring as well, with star rusher Brody Sedlacek rising up to get both arms on a Detweiler punt, sending it through the back of the end zone for a safety and two points for the home team. No more points were scored in the final four minutes of the half, however, and Axtell maintained its 16-14 lead into the intermission. 

After the struggles in the second quarter, the third quarter began almost exactly like the first quarter did - with a flourish. Although this time, the roles were flipped: Hanover got the ball first and scored on their opening drive on a touchdown pass from Cohorst to Sedlacek giving the home team the lead for the first time. Detweiler delivered an instant answer for Axtell, an electrifying 65-yard scamper on the first play of the ensuing drive, which he also finished off with a two-point run. Hanover answered right back less than three minutes later on Cohorst's first rushing score of the day. Cooper Bruna added on the Wildcats' first two-pointer of the game, and Hanover led 28-24 with 4:36 to go in the third. 

This time, the Axtell offense had no response - largely because the Hanover defense went into shutdown mode for the rest of the game. A Detweiler pass that popped out of the hands of Colin Shaughnessy and into the hands of Hunter Kiekhaefer proved to be a true turning point, because just a couple of plays later Cohorst hit Tanner Bruna for a 51-yard bomb over the middle of the field. Cohorst's fifth touchdown of the night was Bruna's first of the season, and ten seconds into the fourth quarter, Hanover's lead was ten: 34-24. 

The Eagles could not muster a fourth quarter rally like they did in the regular season matchup. Axtell turned it over on downs twice after Hanover's fifth score, and right after a Bill Lybarger interception of Cohorst gave the Eagles a fighting chance with two minutes left, Stallbaumer answered with a pick of his own to shore up the win, and a trip to the state championship game, for the Wildcats. 

This sub-state showdown was a rematch from the regular season, but was also a rematch between a district winner and its runner-up. The other sub-state game, interestingly, followed the exact same storyline: District 6 winner Victoria faced off for the second time this season with district runner-up Hodgeman County. That's where the similarities between the two games ended however, because Victoria obliterated Hodgeman County 46-0 in their semifinal after the regular season matchup was a two-score affair. 

That sets up a matchup between two unbeaten teams - 12-0 Hanover vs. 11-0 Victoria - in the KSHSAA 8-player DII state championship game next Saturday, November 29, at 7 PM at Greensburg-Kiowa High School. You can listen to the game on Ol' Red 99.5 in Southeast Nebraska and Northeast Kansas, or online for free anywhere at olred995.com. 

AXTELL (10-2)      24: 16 | 0 | 8 | 0

HANOVER (12-0) 34:  6 | 8 | 14 | 6