The Axtell Eagles have done it—they’ve made history. This is the first time any 8-man team in Kansas has ever won four straight state titles, and it’s been done by none other than the Axtell Eagles. However, that’s not the only piece of history and excitement for this incredible team. Still, the Eagles extended their state-leading 8-man winning streak record of 52 straight games after their dominant 50-0 championship victory over the Victoria Knights. The Axtell Eagles also have the longest winning streak in 8-Man across the entire nation, the third-longest winning streak amongst all classifications. The game may have been a cold and slow start, but it was a strong and hot finish for the Eagles, ending the game with just a little more than two minutes left to go in the fourth quarter. Both teams entered the state championship with 12-0 records and respectively won their district titles and leagues. 

The Kickoff was at 11:00 AM, and it felt like 20 degrees with a North-West wind of eighteen miles per hour, perfect football weather to make history. The Victoria Knights won the toss and elected to receive the ball to start the game, and just after picking up one first down, they quickly fumbled the ball on their first possession on the third play of the game to set up Axtell on the Knights’ 31-yard line. The Eagles responded with only negative yards, spotting the ball right back to the Knights after an early turnover-on-downs, just the second of the season for Axtell. Unfortunately for the Knights, the offensive engine was still stalling, and they gave the Eagles the ball right back off the Knights’ first turnover-on-downs, setting Axtell up on Victoria’s 32-yard line. Axtell, on their second drive of the game, was three-and-outed and was forced to punt for the second time this season, and Victoria made their biggest mistake of the game on their third drive, throwing an interception.

After Rilyn Buessing made the first and last interception of the game for either team, it set Axtell up on Victoria’s 29-yard line. Axtell managed to only move the ball nine yards in three plays and was encountered with a fourth down and one to go from the 20-yard line, and on fourth down, Brandon Schmelzle found an open hole off the right exterior and scampered twenty yards down the field for the score, getting the Eagles up on the board 8-0 with the two-point conversation to compliment. This offensive score was just the start of the snowballing momentum for the Eagles as on the opening play of the fourth drive from the Knights, Wyatt Schmidtberger fumbled the ball right into the hands of Wyatt Detweiler, who took the ball to the house from up the 15-yard line to help the Eagles go up 14-0, Eagles failing the two-point-conversation. Victoria, despite having the only first down up to this point, trailed 14-0 and were forced to punt the ball right back to Axtell, with the Eagles taking a 22-0 lead right before the end of the first quarter with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Schmelzle to Wyatt Detweiler. 

The second quarter was a slow one, with the Eagles only having the ball for about five minutes of the total twelve in the quarter, having scored just once off a 29-yard drive capped off from a Schmelzle rush off the 1-yard line, the Eagles were set up on this drive from yet another Victoria Knights’ turnover-on-downs. The half ended 30-0, and the Axtell Eagles took full momentum heading into the locker room, having practically scored four straight touchdowns after being stalled on their first two drives.

The Eagles, on the opening start to their seventh drive of the game, were only managing to go backward, setting themselves up for a 3rd and twenty-two. Despite the third and a mile, the Eagles took a deep ball shot, and Schmelzle connected with a wide-open Eli Broxterman for 66 yards to put the Eagles up 36-0. The Eagles managed one more score in the third to go up 44-0, with Brandon Schmelzles running in for his third rushing touchdown of the game and his fifth total. 

The fourth quarter was a slow quarter for both teams, not being able to move the ball much down the field, sometimes not at all with three-and-outs. The Eagles finally put the game away off their twelfth drive of the game off a double reverse trick pass from Broxterman to Schmitz for thirty-one yards to score the game-ending touchdown to win 50-0, ending the game with about two minutes left to go on the game. 

Despite the cold, it was surprisingly a well-balanced game from both sides when it came to both the run and the pass. The Eagles rushed for 120 yards and passed for another 171 yards, 140 thrown alone yards from Brandon Schmelzle. The Knights were also held to 120 yards rushing while just passing for a little under 80 total passing yards, 52 yards from their starting quarterback. Brandon Schmelzle finished the game with 21 carries for 68 yards rushing with three touchdowns, but the KU commit also added two passing touchdowns, going 7-16 for 140 passing yards. Eli Broxterman had a big game offensively with seven carries for 35 yards, as well as his four catches for 80 yards and a big-time score. Wyatt Detweiler finished the game with three catches for 61 yards and a touchdown while also adding a defensive fumble return for a touchdown (STATS NOT APPROXIMATE). The biggest stat of the game truly came from the Axtell defense, forcing three total turnovers, two fumbles recoveries, and an interception, but also forcing six turnover-on-downs. Axtell only turned the ball over once with a late-game fumble. 

The story has finally been completed, and the cherry on top of the cake has officially been added. Twelfth-year head coach Eric Detweiler finished the four-peat and extended his team to a 52-game winning streak. Brandon Schmelzle and Eli Broxterman not only join the honors of the rest of their senior class not having lost a game in high school, but those two have never lost a football game in their life. It is truly an incredible moment and a historical one that unfolded today, and even better, the Axtell Eagles are now looking forward to what could be a thrilling basketball and track season. This was the fifth state title in all of Axtell school history, and still many yet to come.