After fans were robbed of what was going to be a game for a district title back in week six we get the matchup with much more on the line Friday night as Frankfort is set to host Hanover with a spot in the 8-man DII title game up for grabs.

Both teams enter Friday night riding hot streaks with Frankfort winners of seven straight following a season-opening loss to Washington County with three weeks off thrown in due to COVID-19 and Linn not fielding a team this season.

Frankfort did not play their final three games of the season but have had no problems in the playoffs to this point with three strong wins including a 46-40 upset win over previously unbeaten Lebo last week.

The Wildcats are now making their first appearance in the state semifinals at the 8-man level and first appearance overall since 2003.

In Frankfort’s win over Lebo last week the Wildcats had to work for it answering the Wolves score for score before eventually holding on late.

The Wildcats racked up over 400 yards of total offense with Gavin Cornelison throwing for 134 yards and two touchdowns to Aiden Gerstner while Cornelison added two scores on the ground along with Ethan Armstrong rushing for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

Cornelison has now racked up over 1,500 total yards of offense this season with 27 total touchdowns while Armstrong is just shy of 900 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns. Gerstner has added over 700 all-purpose yards with 11 touchdowns while Caden Dalinghaus is over 400 total yards with eight scores.

Hanover meanwhile has rolled all season long with a perfect 9-0 mark and it continued last week in a 48-0 win over previously unbeaten Colony-Crest.

Tyler Bonser and Colin Jueneman each ran for two touchdowns in the win while Jacob Jueneman accounted for two total touchdowns.

Defensively the Wildcats forced three fumbles and got 11 tackles from Jacob Klipp including three tackles for loss.

On the season Jacob Jueneman has thrown for 984 yards and 17 touchdowns to just two interceptions while rushing for 553 yards and 14 more scores. Colin Jueneman and Tyler Bonser are each up to 12 rushing touchdowns on the season while Colin leads the receiving core with 364 yards and five scores.

Hanover is making its ninth straight semifinal appearance and last season ended Frankfort’s season for the second straight year with a 36-32 win in the playoffs.

It is the fifth meeting in three years in the battle of the Wildcats with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday night in Frankfort. 

The winner will get either Victoria or St. Francis next Saturday in the 8-man DII State Championship which will be held in Newton at 11 a.m.