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CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

NEMAHA CENTRAL (11-1) VS. SOUTHEAST OF SALINE (12-0)

6 p.m. Friday at Gowans Stadium, Hutchinson

NEMAHA CENTRAL NAVIGATES TOUGHER PATH BACK TO THIRD STRAIGHT 2A TITLE GAME

In rolling to undefeated Class 2A state championships each of the past two seasons, Nemaha Central met very little resistance.

The Thunder were impressive in 2022, opening the season with a tough 35-28 win over Holton, which wound up being their closest game of the season. Nemaha Central rode an offense that overwhelmed its opponents to the tune of 48.3 points per game and won its final 12 games of a 13-0 season by at lead 16 points, including a 33-17 win over Kingman in the championship game.

Last year, an even more dominant version of the Thunder steamrolled their way to a second straight 13-0 season. This time, it was the defense took the lead role as Nemaha Central posted eight straight shutout wins and surrendered just 67 points all season, capping the perfect season with a 28-14 snowy win over Hoisington in the championship game.

With the 2A state championship moving from Salina to Hutchinson this season, the road back to the championship was going to be a different one to travel if the Thunder were to go after a three-peat. And now that Nemaha Central is in position to capture a third straight championship, the road the Thunder have taken certainly was altogether different than their previous paths.

“Every season is different,” Nemaha Central coach Michael Glatczak said. “I’m not sure there’s ever a perfect season with no injuries, no miscues, so in that sense, this year’s no different. … We’ve had a lot more tests this year than we’ve had the last two years, but these kids have really responded and stayed the course of where they wanted to be, which is back in the state championship game.”

After having only one one-score game the past two seasons combined, Nemaha Central has spent the 2024 season somewhat living on the edge, playing one close game after another.

The season got off to a somewhat auspicious start when the Thunder’s 26-game winning streak – the longest in 11-player football coming into the season – was snapped by Marysville, which stymied the Thunder in a 16-8 upset win.

Nemaha Central hasn’t lost since, but has had to survive its fair share of close calls to keep its new winning streak going. After trouncing Silver Lake 35-7 in Week 2, the Thunder fought off Rossville’s late charge to pull out a 31-28 victory over the Bulldawgs in Week 3. In Week 4, the Thunder went on the road and knocked off then-ranked and unbeaten Chanute 13-7 in a defensive slugfest.

“Coming into the season, we had a lot of question marks through the summer and early fall,” Glatczak said. “And we still did through three, four weeks before we finally figured it out. … Obviously, it was tougher having that first loss that we haven’t had the last two years, but I think that loss totally helped us. Losing’s never bad when you learn from it and these kids did just that.

“Honestly, I don’t think we beat Silver Lake, Rossville or Chanute if we don’t lose to Marysville. The kids kind of flipped the tables a little bit after the loss, put their heads down and went back to work. All the pressure was off of us with the winning streak. I was really happy to see this kids buck up and get after it these past 11 weeks and here we are Thanksgiving weekend playing for another title.”

Of all the holes Nemaha Central had to fill off last year’s title team, losing 12 seniors, the biggest – both literally and figuratively – came in the trenches. Graduation claimed not only All-State Top 11 lineman Holden Bass, but fellow three-year starters in Abe Hilbert and Josh Gonzalez. Bass (6-4, 290) and Hilbert (6-6, 230) were imposing presences while Gonzalez (6-1, 220) had anchored the center spot on the line.

As significant as those losses were, Glatczak felt good about the guys stepping into those spots to go around returning senior starters Abram Keim and Reese Gerety. Both returners took over new spots on the line with Keim moving to center and Gerety from tackle to guard. They’ve been joined by sophomore Kylar Ganstrom and juniors Hendryx Wahl and Daniel Childress.

Wahl is the Thunder’s latest monster lineman at 6-4, 290 while Childress made the move from fullback to the line and Ganstrom moved up from the freshman team.

The unit has gelled more than enough to allow Glatczak to stick with his offensive philosophy of pounding opponents into submission with a ground game led by junior quarterback Carter Hajek.

“I tell the kids every year, if we’re going to play on Thansgiving weekend, we’re going to have to be able to run the football because it’s going to be cold and maybe rainy, snowy or windy and those three factors are tough if you’re throwing it 50, 60 times,” he said. “These kids love it. I knew we’d be good up front but that it would take a few weeks to get that meshing that we’ve had in the past with our offensive line.

“Keim and Gerety have done a phenomenal job of not just leading, but leading by example. How to go through inside veer, how to push the sled – all the things that lead to the success we’ve had.”

The unit has meshed well enough for Hajek to have a second straight monster year offensively. After rushing for 2,431 yards and 43 touchdowns a year ago, he’s nearly duplicated that performance this season, going into the title game with 2,148 yards and 38 touchdowns on the ground.

He’s also thrown for 1,026 yards and 11 touchdowns, surpassing his sophomore year totals through the air and keeping teams just enough honest to not concentrate solely on stopping the run.

Hajek methodically powered his way to 302 yards rushing in the Thunder’s 33-27 quarterfinal win over Osage City with his 1-yard touchdown run with 19.5 seconds left the game-winner. He added another 182 yards and three touchdowns in the 21-6 semifinal win over Council Grove as Nemaha Central gutted out two tough playoff victories to return to the state title game.

The Thunder’s toughest test awaits in Friday’s 6 p.m. championship game in Hutchinson with Southeast of Saline coming in as 2A’s No. 1-ranked team with a 12-0 mark. The Trojans survived a 34-30 semifinal battle with North Central Activities Association rival Beloit, pulling out the win with a touchdown pass on the final play of the game.

While Nemaha Central has played in, and won, the last two 2A championship games, Southeast is making its first title-game appearance since capturing the 2005 Class 3A crown. Glatczak said he hoped the Thunder’s experience the past two years will play a factor in the title game.

“I think going back to last Friday night against Council Grove and it was – we’ve been there and they were in that spot for the first time,” he said. “They played well, but kind of ran out of energy and I think the experience factor is a big one. Obviously, it’s not everything, but it can be big.

“Southeast does a really good job in all facets of the game. They’re well-coached and have some dudes on that team. … Our defense will have a tough test and hopefully we can make the plays and get it done. It should be a really good battle.”

NEMAHA CENTRAL THUNDER (11-1)

COACH: Michael Glatczak (4th year, 44-4)

STATE FINALS HISTORY: 3 state titles – 2023 (2A), 2022 (2A), 2019 (2A)

2024 RESULTS

L,16-8 Marysville
W,35-7 at Silver Lake
W,31-28 Rossville
W,13-7 at Chanute
W,48-6 Oskaloosa
W,24-0 at Sabetha
W,40-16 Royal Valley
W,46-0 at Atchison County
W,55-13 Fredonia (P)
W,21-0 Sabetha (P)
W,33-27 at Osage City (P)
W,21-6 Council Grove (P)

2024 STATISTICS

TEAM

Points scored: 375 (31.3 per game)

Points allowed: 126 (10.5 per game)

Total offense: 3,938 yards (328.2 per game)

Rushing: 2,846 yards (237.2 per game), 41 TDs

Passing: 1,092 yards (91.0 per game), 12 TDs, 3 INTs

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Carter Hajek (jr.) 330 carries, 2,148 yards, 38 TDs; Jayden Seitz (jr.) 26 carries, 202 yards, 2 TDs; Caleb Strathman (jr.) 17 carries, 184 yards, 1 TDs; Caleb Hynek (so.) 40 carries, 184 yards.

Passing: Carter Hajek (jr.) 82 of 133, 1,026 yards, 11 TDs, 3 INTs.

Receiving: Caleb Strathman (jr.) 35 catches, 447 yards, 4 TDs; Kamden Schmitz (jr.) 8 catches, 142 yards, 1 TD; Jayden Seitz (jr.) 8 catches, 113 yards, 3 Tds; Mason Schultejans (so.) 10 catches, 112 yards, 3 TDs.

Tackles: Abram Keim (sr.) 155 tackles (72 solo), 9 tackles for loss; Caleb Strathman (jr.) 86 tackles (49 solo); Jack Macke (jr.) 83 tackles (37 solo), 12 tackles for loss; Kamden Schmitz (jr.) 75 tackles (30 solo), 3 tackles for loss; Daniel Childress (jr.) 71 tackles (27 solo), 6 tackles for loss; Carter Hajek (jr.) 67 tackles (45 solo), 2 tackles for loss; Hendryx Wahl (jr.) 65 tackles (30 solo), 8 tackles for loss; Kanin Sudbeck (jr.) 56 tackles (29 solo), 8 tackles for loss; Reese Gerety (sr.) 55 tackles (20 solo), 8 tackles for loss; Jayden Seitz (jr.) 48 tackles (26 solo), 2 tackles for loss; Mason Schultejans (so.) 39 tackles (21 solo); Brady Koch (so.) 34 tackles (18 solo); Kylar Ganstrom (so.) 31 tackles (12 solo), 9 tackles for loss; Sullivan Haverkamp (fr.) 30 tackles (11 solo).

Takeaways: Caleb Strathman (jr.) 4 INTs; Jack Macke (jr.) 3 INTs, 1 fumble recovery; Carter Hajek (jr.) 3 INTs, 1 fumble recovery; Jayden Seitz (jr.) 1 INT, 1 fumble recovery; Sam Nordhus (sr.) 2 fumble recoveries; Kanin Sudbeck (jr.) 2 fumble recoveries.

Kicking: Levi Thomas (so.) 3 of 5 FGs, 38 of 47 PATs.

WHAT A BREAKTHROUGH! FINAL-PLAY SEMIFINAL WIN PROPELS SOUTHEAST OF SALINE TO FIRST FINALS SINCE 2005

At some point, Southeast of Saline’s postseason fortunes were going to change.

Over the past five seasons, no team – yes, no team – in the state has been better in the regular season than the Trojans. Starting with the 2020 season, Southeast of Saline has now posted five straight undefeated regular seasons, something not even Axtell – which boasts the state’s current overall winning streak at 51 straight games – has accomplished.

Yet for all its regular-season success – 40 consecutive wins and counting – Southeast of Saline hasn’t parlayed it into a state title. Or even a state championship game appearance.

“Every year for most teams as they go through the postseason, they’ll have that one game where you either pull it out or somebody beats you,” Southeast coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “And for whatever reason, we haven’t. We’ve seen some great teams and a few times, we’ve been on the other side of what happened on Friday.”

What happened on Friday was a breakthrough of tantamount proportions for the Trojans. Staring another heartbreaking pre-championship game exit square in the face, Southeast finally flipped the script on its string of playoff shortcomings.

Trailing North Central Activities Association rival Beloit 30-28 with only seconds left in the game, Southeast played the role of heartbreaker. Gannon Jacobson found Kanyon Douglas in the front of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown pass as time expired to give the Trojans an improbable – and long-awaited – 34-30 victory.

“I think it’s my 30^th year and that’s one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been in,” Gebhardt said of a game that featured six lead changes, including three in the fourth quarter. “The excitement we had, we’ve also felt the pain of being on the other side of that.”

Indeed, two years ago, Southeast of Saline was poised to end its state championship game drought – its last appearance coming in 2005 when the Trojans won the Class 3A state championship – only to see Kingman rips its heart out.

Up 22-14 in overtime, Southeast saw Kingman score on fourth-and-goal from the 6 when Eagle quarterback Nolan Freund eluded the Trojan rush all the way back at the 20 and found Tristen Davidson streaking across the end zone for the TD. Kingman then added the tying two-point conversion and after stopping the Trojans in double-overtime, pulled out a 28-22 victory on Freund’s 5-yard TD run.

Gebhardt said his heart went out to Beloit on Friday night as it triggered memories of that loss.

“They were lights out and very good,” Gebhardt said of Beloit. “But we always talk about never give up until that clock is showing zeroes. The players never did give up in that game no doubt about it. Any time you win a game in that fashion, the excitement is more than most games. It was an exciting time and the kids and everybody involved with Southeast football enjoyed it. But we also know we’ve got another game and we’ve got to get locked in on this week and do a good job at the state championship game.”

In Friday’s 6 p.m. championship game in Hutchinson, Southeast of Saline (12-0) will take on two-time reigning 2A champion Nemaha Central (11-1), which has won its last 11 games after having its 26-game winning streak over the previous two seasons snapped in this year’s season opener.

“A very successful program obviously and their coaching staff does an outstanding job with the kids they have every year,” Gebhardt said. “It’s a huge challenge. They’ve won two titles. They’re kids are used to being there and have that experience. We have to stay focused on what we need to do to compete in that game.”

As big as Friday’s challenge is, it’s something Southeast is certainly already accustomed to facing. In addition to overcoming their own postseason demons, the Trojans’ run to the title game has been littered with one big test after another.

After cruising past Larned in the playoff opener, Southeast got a second-round showdown with a Norton team that spent five weeks this season ranked No. 1 before ceding the spot to Southeast after falling 50-21 to Phillipsburg in Week 7. The Trojans pulled out a 34-7 rain-soaked victory over the Bluejays, setting up a quarterfinal showdown with Hoisington.

It was Hoisington that ended Southeast’s undefeated season last year in the quarterfinals, taking a 49-42 shootout win over the Trojans. But Southeast got its revenge with a 30-8 victory to reach the semifinals against league rival Beloit, whom the Trojans had beaten 32-6 earlier in the season.

“You look at tradition football teams in 2A in the west and you’ve got Norton, Hoisington and Beloit and we played all three of them three weeks in a row,” Gebhardt said. “We saw that bracket come out and we as a football family here embraced what we needed to do and how we needed to do it. Awfully proud of the kids how they stepped up and accepted that challenge and made it through it.”

Which isn’t a complete surprise. Going into this season, Southeast faced a huge challenge of having to replace eight seniors off last year’s team, including the duo of quarterback Daniel Kejr and tailback Nathan Friesen, who accounted for 3,480 of the Trojans’ 4,354 yards of total offense (80%) a year ago.

But with an experienced offensive line leading the way, those holes have been filled more than capably. Grady Gebhardt went from a complementary back a year ago to a workhorse this season, rushing for 1,340 yards and 14 touchdowns despite missing two games. Fellow junior Gannon Jacobson took over for Kejr at quarterback and has thrown for 2,032 yards and 31 touchdowns while also rushing for 721 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Both have eclipsed the stats of their predecessors and keyed a Southeast offense that’s averaging 43 points and 418 yards per game.

Jacobson threw for a career-high 364 yards and 5 TDs in the semifinal win over Beloit.

“We’ve lost some awful good classes the last several years and you have to make sure you can replace those guys,” Gebhardt said. “We felt good about the guys we had coming back and the guys who were going to replace those guys, but you never really know until you put the pads on Friday night and start playing.

“I feel like Gannon’s had an outstanding season for his first year as starting quarterback. He had some bumps and bruises early on, or maybe some games where he didn’t play as well as he would have liked to. But down the stretch, he’s been really good. Sometimes it’s hard to replace those kids, but we’ve been very fortunate to be able to do that and keep this thing rolling.”

SOUTHEAST OF SALINE TROJANS (12-0)

COACH: Mitch Gebhardt (15th year, 115-39)

STATE FINALS HISTORY: 1 state title – 2005 (3A)

2024 RESULTS

W,64-14 Minneapolis
W,22-20 at Clay Center
W,32-6 Beloit
W,40-6 at Kingman
W,66-0 Lyons
W,36-8 at Hillsboro
W,38-15 Halstead
W,44-8 at Ellsworth
W,76-12 Larned (P)
W,34-7 Norton (P)
W,30-8 Hoisington (P)
W,34-30 Beloit (P)

2024 STATISTICS

TEAM

Points scored: 516 (43.0 per game)

Points allowed: 134 (11.2 per game)

Total offense: 5,107 yards (418.1 per game)

Rushing: 2,882 yards (240.2 per game), 38 TDs

Passing: 2,135 yards (177.9 per game), 32 TDs, 10 INTs

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing: Grady Gebhardt (jr.) 176 carries, 1,340 yards, 14 TDs; Gannon Jacobson (jr.) 108 carries, 721 yards, 8 TDs; Amarion Holub (jr.) 65 carries, 363 yards, 8 TDs; Kanyon Douglas (jr.) 15 carries, 176 yards, 3 TDs.

Passing: Gannon Jacobson (jr.) 140 of 243, 2,032 yards, 31 TDs, 10 INTs.

Receiving: Tucker Thaxton (sr.) 71 catches, 935 yards, 14 TDs; Grady Gebhardt (jr.) 20 catches, 303 yards, 2 TDs; Kanyon Douglas (jr.) 10 catches, 279 yards, 4 TDs; Kaden Barragan (jr.) 12 catches, 209 yards, 4 TDs; Evan Watkins (sr.) 18 catches, 185 yards, 3 TDs.

Tackles: Kanyon Douglas (jr.) 98 tackles (49 solo), 16 tackles for loss; Bryson Lippold (jr.) 66 tackles (37 solo), 9 tackles for loss, 2 sacks; Grady Gebhardt (jr.) 66 tackles (38 solo), 3 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks; Brody Chambers (jr.) 66 tackles (35 solo), 20 tackles for loss, 6 sacks; Amarion Holub (jr.) 64 tackles (26 solo); Gannon Jacobson (jr.) 57 tackles (26 solo); Killian Vaughan (jr.) 54 tackles (28 solo), 9 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks; Drew Weller (jr.) 48 tackles (18 solo), 6 tackles for loss, 2 sacks; Deacon Baier (sr.) 47 tackles (27 solo), 12 tackles for loss, 2 sacks; Tucker Thaxton (sr.) 45 tackles (16 solo), 2 tackles for loss; Evan Watkins (sr.) 43 tackles (22 solo), 3 tackles for loss; Josh Watkins (so.) 3 tackles for loss; Ian Nickelson (sr.) 2 sacks.

Takeaways: Tucker Thaxton (sr.) 3 INTs; Kanyon Douglas (jr.) 3 INTs; Bryson Lippold (jr.) 3 fumble recoveries; Drew Weller (jr.) 2 fumble recoveries.

Kicking: Malachi Hopkins (jr.) 4 of 5 PATs.

🏈 Class 2A state title preview: Southeast of Saline vs. Nemaha Central