#2 Nemaha Central Football Team Secures Back-to-Back State Championships

The Nemaha Central Thunder powered past Hoisington in a snowy Class 2A State Championship game in Salina 28-14. 

The Thunder jumped out to an early 6-0 lead as they took the opening drive of the game 65 yards in 12 plays capped off by a Carter Hajek six-yard touchdown run. 

The Cardinals would take the lead right before halftime with a nine-play, 40-yard drive capped off by a Tony Moore 4-yard touchdown run which game them a 7-6 lead going into the break. 

Outside of the two touchdown drives in the first half, the two teams combined for three punts, two turnovers, and a turnover on downs. The Cardinals had a fumble while Nemaha Central threw an interception. 

The third quarter was the difference in the game as the Thunder would outscore the Cardinals 14-0 in that frame to take a 20-7 lead into the fourth quarter. 

The Cardinals three drives included a fumble, turnover on downs, and failed fake punt with the Thunder cashing in on two of those miscues. 

The first was a seven-yard run from Hajek that capped off a 54-yard drive in under two minutes. Hajek would follow that with an impressive 49-yard touchdown run to cap a 53-yard drive in under two minutes. 

Both teams would score in the fourth quarter with Nemaha Central making it 28-7 on a one-yard run from Hajek on a short field after a turnover on downs. The Cardinals would add a late score on a three-yard touchdown from Moore. 

The Cardinals would fail on the onside kick after that score and the Thunder were able to run out the clock and secure the win. 

Neither team had much success in the passing game with a majority of the yardage coming on the ground. The Thunder finished the game with 297 total yards with 266 coming in the running game while the Cardinals finished with 211 yards with 164 of it on the ground. 

Hajek posted an unbelievable game and finished with 50 carries for 266 yards and all four touchdowns. He finishes his sophomore season with 2,431 rushing yards and 43 touchdowns. 

The Thunder defense was also one of the best units in the state among all classifications as they entered the game allowing under five points per game. 

The win for Nemaha Central secures their second straight perfect season (26 straight wins), second straight state title, and third overall since 2019.

#1 Axtell Football Team Completes Three-Peat

Axtell won their third consecutive state title in snowy Newton by a final score of 50-0. They defeated South Central for their 39th consecutive win in mercy rule fashion at halftime.

Landon Schmitz got the scoring started with a 27-yard rushing touchdown on their second possession after both teams exchanged punts.

After Axtell’s defense forced another punt, Brandon Schmelzle got his first score of the afternoon with a 26-yard rushing touchdown to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead with 2:24 remaining in the first quarter.

The Axtell defense once again forced a punt, and Schmelzle had a punt that was returned for a touchdown overturned by a holding penalty. The flag backed them up to their own 12-yard line, but it didn’t matter because Axtell would go the length of the field for their third score of the day. This time, it was Schmelzle getting his second rushing touchdown from 23 yards out to make it 20-0 with 9:13 remaining in the second quarter.

The Timberwolves felt they needed to throw being behind quickly to try to make something happen, and it backfired mightily as Colin Shaughnessy picked off junior quarterback JT Prusa for a pick-six to make it 28-0 Axtell with 7:36 to go.

Special teams was then able to get involved with the Eagles blocking a punt and Grant Buessing diving on it in the endzone for a touchdown to make it 34-0 with 5:21 left in the second quarter.

Wasting no time, the defense forced their second turnover of the game with Eli Broxterman falling on a fumble by Prusa to set them up in positive field position. They cashed in moments later with Schmelzle getting his third score of the game with this one being a 20-yard run to go up 42-0 with 3:31 remaining.

South Central finally got their first first down of the game with 2:22 left in the second quarter, but on the next set of downs, they came up a yard short on a fourth down try with 24 seconds left.

On the first play of the next Axtell drive, Schmelzle threw a dime to Grady Buessing over the middle for a 38-yard gain to put them in the red zone for the first time. Two plays later, Schmelzle got in for touchdown number four from four yards away making it 50-0 with just seven seconds remaining.

On a last-ditch effort, Prusa fired one down the field and Schmelzle picked it off for his ninth defensive interception of the season.

Brandon Schmelzle rushed for 114 yards on 12 carries with his four touchdowns. He also went 5-for-7 over the air for 68 passing yards. Grant Buessing also had a monster day for the Eagles. On top of the special teams touchdown, he also had a sack and three total tackles.

Axtell finishes the year with a perfect 13-0 and currently has the longest active winning streak in the state of Kansas. They graduate linemen Sawyer Deters and Grant Buessing along with linebacker and wide receiver Grady Buessing.

Next year, they have a chance to be the first team since the division of the eight-man classifications in 1983 to win four consecutive state titles in the same eight-man classification.

They can also become the first team to win four consecutive eight-man titles since Denton-Midway did it five years in a year spanning from 1984-88 (8M-DI in ‘84, ‘87, ‘88; 8M-DII in ‘85 and ’86).