By GARRETT WELLBROCK
Hays Post Sports
GREENSBURG â Hanover captured the Eight-Man Division II state championship with a 28-20 win over previously unbeaten Victoria on Saturday, but the Wildcats had to survive a four-quarter fight from a Knights team that refused to go away. Victoria, seeking its eighth state title and its first since 2015, controlled long stretches of the game and repeatedly put Hanover on its heels with physical defense and trademark ball-control drives.
Victoria (11-1) struck first after stuffing Hanover on a fourth-and-1 in the red zone, a momentum-setting play delivered by Weston Scherrer. The Knights marched 59 yards in 11 plays and took a 6-0 lead on Scherrerâs 20-yard touchdown run with five seconds left in the first quarter. Through one, Victoria had outgained Hanover and looked fully in command.
Hanover (13-0) responded with a grinding 13-play drive to tie the game, but the Knights again pushed deep into Wildcat territory before a turnover on downs swung momentum. Hanover struck immediately with trickery, as receiver Braylon Meyn threw the first of his two touchdown passes â a 45-yard strike to Lanxden Stallbaumer â to take a 12-6 halftime lead.
Victoria opened the second half with another long drive, and while it came up empty, the Knights grabbed the lead moments later. Ethan VonLintel jumped a route and returned an interception 23 yards for a pick-six, putting Victoria back on top 14-12 with 6:19 left in the third.
Hanover answered quickly, but Victoriaâs response was textbook Knights football: a 14-play, 65-yard march capped by Scherrerâs second touchdown, tying the game at 20 early in the fourth. The senior finished with 126 rushing yards and carried the offense through much of the night.
But Hanoverâs misdirection and trick plays proved the difference. After a Victoria interception, Meyn struck again â this time a 52-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Kickhaefer with 4:30 remaining. It was the Wildcatsâ third score of 45 yards or more and their second touchdown thrown by a0 wide receiver.
Victoria had two more chances, including a final possession with 1:43 to play, but Kickhaefer sealed the title with his second interception of the fourth. The Wildcats kneeled out the remaining time to secure their eighth state championship and first since 2020.
Despite the loss, Victoria outgained Hanover on the ground 201â76, held the Wildcats to just one red-zone touchdown, and controlled the clock for most of the game. Scherrer, Mason Mauch, and the Knightsâ offensive line powered a rushing attack that kept them within reach until the final minute.
Hanover finished with 228 passing yards â 97 of them from Meynâs two trick-play touchdowns â and overcame a pick-six to complete a perfect 13-0 season. Victoria, with one of the stateâs most disciplined defenses and a senior class of 10, closes its season 11-1 after pushing the unbeaten Wildcats to the wire.