The Axtell Eagles 58 game winning streak came to a holt last night with the Hanover Wildcats winning 26-18, it was an all-time classic game between the two rivals that have matched up well over fifty times through both programs’ histories. Axtell snapped Hanover’s 43 game winning streak in 2021, the same year Axtell won their second title in program history, and begun their 4-peat with four consecutive state titles and now concluding at 58 total games won in a row. It was the longest ever winning streak in eight-man football in Kansas, but was short by 11 games of Smith Center’s (11-Man) 79 straight games from 2004-2009. 

Hanover over Axtell 26-18

The Axtell Eagles started with the ball and on their first drive were three-and-outed off back-to-back sacks from Hanover, which would set the intensity for the night for Hanover. Hanover scored on their opening drive off Kadrick Cohorst scoring his first one of four touchdowns on the game via his legs. The first quarter ended 6-0 with Hanover in the driver seat.

Axtell would tie the contest early in the second quarter 6-6 with Wyatt Detweiler from the goal line, and just like Hanover, Axtell had to convert two fourth-downs on their first scoring drive. Hanover would score on their second possession on a 65-yard drive, finished off by once again junior quarterback, Kadrick Cohorst. The half would conclude 12-6 with Hanover getting a chance to score before half, but with some unfortunate time management with a timeout and about a minute forty on the clock, the Wildcats were stagnant. 

Axtell came out of the half and made Hanover punt, which put Axtell back in the driver seat to try to retake the lead. Unfortunately for the Eagles after getting deep into Hanover territory, Axtell would give up another major sack and right after a false start, to add onto injury the Eagles had a bad snap that resulted in a fumble recovered by the defense. Hanover though wouldn’t capitalize and Cohorst would throw a pick into the end zone to Joe Lybarger, but unfortunately he’d slip, falling out of the end zone, which set Axtell up at their own one-yard line. Axtell would then fumble again, handing it back to Hanover and go down 18-6. Hanover would score another time after a turnover-on-downs and go up 26-6 with under seven minutes to go in their fourth quarter. 

However, despite the large deficit, Axtell would make it a thrilling contest with a 77-yard kickoff return taken for a touchdown from Wyatt Detweiler, and then immediately after Axtell would recover the onside Kick. Joe Lybarger would get a pitch to the outside from the goal line to make it 26-18 with Hanover holding on by a thread. Axtell would get one more chance with the ball after forcing a bad punt from Hanover, the Eagles would have it at the Wildcat 30-yard line with about a minute to go with no timeouts. But this would be were the thrilling match would come to an end, Axtell would fail to move the ball even a yard and the Hanover Wildcats batted down the fourth-down shot up in the air, finally ending the Axtell 58-game winning streak. 

Stats

Kadrick Cohorst went 11 of 16 with one interception for fifty yards passing, but really did all of the work on the ground with 67 yards rushing off 14 carries for also four scores. Hanover finished with 197 yards rushing and 60 yards passing, concluding with 257 total yards of offense. Hanover went 2/12 on third downs and 3/7 on fourth downs.

Wyatt Detweiler led Axtell with 19 carries for 34 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown. Detweiler went 16 of 24 for 116 yards passing with no touchdowns. Detweiler also had one special teams touchdown with the 77-yard returned kickoff. Axtell finished with 116 yards passing and 92 yards rushing, concluding with 206 yards of offense. Axtell went 5/12 on third downs and 2/4 on fourth downs. 

Summary

Hanover now improved to 7-0 on the season and will claim both the District and Twin Valley League title for the first time in five years, the Wildcats finish their season in a non-district game on the road against Linn next Friday. The Axtell Eagles will have a chance to still finish second in the district and TVL with a district and league game against Frankfort at home next Friday. The Eagles take their first loss on the season and drop to 6-1.