The Nemaha Central Thunder are the Class 2A State Football Champions once again.

They dominated Southeast of Saline on Saturday afternoon in Hutchinson in the title game winning 35-6.

The Thunder (13-0) came out firing on all cylinders in the special team’s aspect thanks to senior Caleb Strathman.

NC won the toss and chose to receive the opening kickoff. Strathman took it the house for 84 yards which gave the Thunder an early 7-0 lead.

After the Trojans (12-1) went three-and-out on their first possession of the game, Strathman returned the punt 76 yards to the house to give the Thunder a 14-0 lead not even two minutes into the game.

Southeast of Saline would score their lone touchdown of the game early in the second quarter on fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line on a touchdown reception from Malachi Hopkins.

NC quarterback Carter Hajek scored his first touchdown late in the second quarter on a 68-yard run to give the Thunder a 21-6 halftime lead. That was after the Thunder defense forced a fumble on the previous possession by the Trojans.

The Thunder defense held the Trojans offense to under 80 yards in the second half and just 257 yards in the game. The Trojans entered the game averaging 53 points and 455 yards per game.

The Trojans would turn it over on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter which led the back-to-back Thunder touchdowns.

Hajek scored from four yards out followed by Jayden Seitz from eight yards out which made the score 35-6 going into the fourth quarter with that score holding up the rest of the game.

Hajek finished the game with 224 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He finished his high school career with 7,889 rushing yards and 129 touchdowns.

The Thunder senior class finishes off their four-year run with a 50-2 record with three state championships. It was the fourth title in school history for NC with the other coming back in 2019.

The Trojans were led by Grady Gebhardt who finished with 116 rushing yards while Tiernan Ptacek completed 12-of-22 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown.

The Thunder finished the game with 274 yards of total offense including 253 on the ground. Seitz finished with 42 yards and a touchdown while Strathman added one reception for 13 yards to go along with his two first quarter special teams scores.

Congratulations to the Nemaha Central Thunder. The 2025 Class 2A State Football Champions.