Axtell extended their winning streak to 32 games after a 56-0 halftime mercy rule win over the Hanover Wildcats on the road on Friday night.

On the first drive of the game, Brandon Schmelzle connected with Grady Buessing on a 26-yard touchdown to go up 8-0 with 6:23 left in the first quarter.

Hanover was looking to respond, and Rieken Stallbaumer threw a pass to Braylon Meyn for a 40-yard gain to get them in the red zone.

However, the Axtell defense turned Hanover over on downs and capitalized with an Eli Broxterman 34-yard touchdown run to go up 16-0.

Freshman Wyatt Detweiler hauled in an interception to give them a short field, which resulted in a Landon Schmitz 15-yard touchdown run.

Schmitz would get another score on their next drive with this one being a ten-yard touchdown reception to make it 32-0 with 9:29 remaining in the second quarter.

Hanover turned it over on downs for the second time, which turned into Grady Buessing’s second touchdown reception of the day. This one was a 13-yard score to make it 40-0.

Sawyer Deters forced a fumble which was recovered by Grady Buessing on the Wildcats’ next time with the ball. Axtell was able to get Broxterman his second touchdown of the day with a 29-yard touchdown reception. He would get another 14-yard touchdown reception just before the half to seal the game.

Schmelzle was 8-for-9 with 132 passing yards and five touchdowns to match his total from last week with eight carries for 60 rushing yards.

Eli Broxterman had six carries for 88 yards and a touchdown with two receiving touchdowns on two receptions and 43 yards.

Grady Buessing had three catches for 53 yards and two touchdowns. Landon Schmitz had two carries for 16 yards and a touchdown with two receptions for 25 receiving yards a receiving touchdown.

Axtell improves to 6-0 on the season with a 3-0 record in district play. They will face Frankfort next week with the winner claiming the district title.

As for Hanover, they hope to rebound after dropping to 3-3 overall and 2-1 in district play. They are at Linn in Week 7.