Get your popcorn ready. It’s take two between the (12-0) Southeast of Saline Trojans and the (12-0) Nemaha Central Thunder for the Class 2A State Championship which will be played in Hutchinson on Saturday beginning at noon.

These two teams met in the championship game last season, and it was an incredible game. Both teams scored on their opening drive of the game. SES would dominate the second quarter and would lead the game 20-7 at halftime.

Carter Hajek would score the lone touchdown in the third quarter for the Thunder as Saline’s lead with 20-13 going into the fourth quarter. The Thunder would take advantage of back-to-back Trojan turnovers in the fourth quarter and would have a 28-20 lead in the final few minutes.

The Trojans drove right down the field and scored with a two-point conversion to tie the game at 28-28 with less than a minute left. NC would fumble the ensuing kickoff, and the Trojans would connect on a game winning 29-yard touchdown pass on 4^th-and-8 with 11 seconds left to come away with the 36-28 win for their second state title in school history.

It was a crushing defeat for Nemaha Central as they were looking for their third straight state championship.

Both teams are undefeated and these have been the clear cut top two teams in Class 2A from the beginning of this season.

Nemaha Central is under head coach Michael Glatczak in his fifth season. He’s led the Thunder to multiple state championships and a 56-5 record since he took over. NC will be looking for their fourth title since consolidation in 2014 with the other title won in 2019.

Southeast of Saline is led by Mitch Gebhardt as the Trojans have been a staple in Class 2A over the last five seasons. Since 2020, the Trojans are 54-5 and will be looking for their third title in school history.

The NC offense is averaging over 360 yards and 43 points per game this season. Senior quarterback Carter Hajek will be playing in his final game and is set to go down an all-time great in Kansas. Hajek enters the title game with over 10,000 total yards and 164 total touchdowns in his career. He’s rushed for 7,678 yards in his career as he’s one of just eight 11-man players to eclipse the 7,000 career rushing total. The Thunder senior class is 49-2 with two state championships with the potential for a third title in that stretch.

The SES offense is averaging 53 points per game to go along with over 450 yards per game. The Trojans lost their senior quarterback Gannon Jacobson to an injury in the regular season and have been led by junior Tiernan Ptacek since then. Ptacek has thrown for over 1,000 yards with 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions.

The Trojans also boast arguably the best running back in Class 2A with Grady Gebhardt. Gebhardt has rushed for 1,941 yards and 33 touchdowns this season as he’s averaging over 10 yards per carry.

The Nemaha Central defense is giving up 12.6 points per game and have compiled 90 tackles for loss, 21 interceptions, and 13 sacks. The Trojans have surrendered only 9.4 points per game this season to the opposition. They’ve totaled 92 tackles for loss, 20 sacks, and 15 interceptions.

Catch the Class 2A State Championship game on Saturday afternoon with the kickoff at noon in Hutchinson. Jake and Boz will get the coverage started with a tailgate/pregame show beginning at 10:00 AM on 92.1 KMZA leading up to the pregame coverage beginning at 11:15 AM.