A showdown worthy of Sub-State or even the State Championship took place in the Regional second round of the Class 3A playoffs as #1 Silver Lake hosted #5 Nemaha Central in a battle of unbeaten teams. The Thunder earned the big road win using strong defensive showing to earn the 21-14 victory. 

Ultimately in the end it was defensive struggle and it was the Thunder defense that won them the game coming up with three Silver Lake turnovers and some huge stops in the contest to earn the win despite being outgained 352-199 total yards. Silver Lake marched down the field early in the game against Nemaha Central on their first offensive drive and punched it in the endzone on a 13-yard touchdown run by Dalton Dultmeier making it 7-0 Eagles with 4:07 in the first quarter. The Thunder an opportunity foiled in the redzone turning the ball over on downs on a fourth and goal play but the Nemaha defense picked things up forcing a three and out and on the punt. On the punt the Thunder brought pressure and David Delaney blocked the punt and recovered it in the endzone for the first Nemaha score on the night and with a Ryan Hasenkamp run on the two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead with 8:08 left in the first half. 

The lead grew for the Thunder on a seven play 80-plus yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run from Hasenkamp and PAT that made it 15-7 with 2:13 left in the second quarter. Silver Lake looking to answer before halftime started to mount a drive and Dultmeier complete four-straight passes at one point on the drive and got the Eagles into the redzone, but the Thunder came up with the first turnover of the game as Mitchell Henry intercepted a Dultmeier pass and the game headed to halftime 15-7. 

The second half saw both teams clamp down defensively stopping each other until Nemaha Central put together a nine-play drive and found the endzone with 3:03 left in the third quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Mitchell Henry and that made it 21-7 after the PAT was no good. Silver Lake cut the lead to one score after Dultmeier hit Josh Boyd for a 12-yard touchdown pass and with the PAT it was 21-14 with 8:45 left in the game. The Eagles mounted several drives in the later part of the second half but Henry again picked off a Dultmeier pass and the Thunder also stopped a Eagles drive on the Thunder 31-yard line with 5:09 left in the contest. 

Silver Lake got the ball back one final time and started to move the ball getting into the Thunder redzone with under a minute left in the contest but the Thunder forced a fourth and one from the 16-yard line. After a timeout Silver Lake on a Dultmeier run appeared to be close ot the first down but upon a measurement the Thunder stopped the Eagles quarterback short and took over on downs and ultimately secured the 21-14 win. 

The loss wraps up Silver Lake's season with a 10-1 record and despite outgaining Nemaha Central could not make up for their three turnovers in the game. Dultmeier finished 18-30 for 215 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, while rushing for a touchdown. Ryan Wagner caught five passes for 67 yards and Garrett Huske ran for 94 yards on 17 carries. 

Nemaha Central with the win is into the Sectionals for the first time under Coach Warren Seitz and improved to 11-0 on the season with the win. Hasenkamp finished 5-10 for 65 yards with a touchdown and rushing touchdown on 20 carries totaling 43 yards. Jacob Schmitz caught three passes for 97 yards for the Thunder. Mitchell Henry made several plays all night with nine carries for 24 yards and touchdown, while intercepting a pair of passes on defense and making multiple tackles earning him "Community National Bank" Player to Bank On honors on KMZA. 

The win puts the Thunder into the Sectional round of the Class 3A playoffs were they will play Wellsville who beat Galena 27-22 in their Regional playoff game. Nemaha Central will host the contest scheduled for next Friday, November 11th at 7:00pm. (The game will be broadcasted on 92.1 KMZA)