Knights Fall Just Short of Hanover in 8-Player Div. 2 Title Game
The Victoria Knights (12-1) battled the Hanover Wildcats (13-0) for the 8-Man II State Championship, but the Wildcats come out victorious by a final score of 28-20 in Greensburg on Saturday, November 29.
It was a back-and-forth battle between the two undefeated teams, but a couple of costly turnover by Victoria allowed Hanover to come away with the win.
The Knights started out hot, with the defense forcing a turnover on downs deep in their own territory and then the offense finishing a 10 play, 59-yard drive with a running back Weston Sherrer 20-yard rushing touchdown. The points after were no good, but Victoria had the lead 6-0 with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.
Hanover would respond right away on the next drive, as quarterback Kadrick Cohorst scrambled into the endzone from 6-yards away on 4th down. The two-point conversion was no good, and they were knotted up at 6 with 5:17 left in the second quarter.
Victoria would turn the ball over on downs their next offensive drive, giving Hanover a chance to respond before the half, which they did. A trick play would fool the Knights, as receiver Braylon Meyn took a sweep handoff and passed the ball downfield to Lanxden Stallbaumber for a 44-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but Hanover took a 12-6 lead into end of the half.
Victoria received the ball to start the half, but they turned the ball over on downs deep in Hanover territory. The Wildcats took over, but on the first play of that drive, Ethan VonLintel lurked the pass from Cohorst, intercepted the ball, and took it to the endzone from 18-yards away. The two-point conversion this time was good, giving Victoria the lead back 14-12 with 6:19 left in the third quarter.
The lead didn't last long, as Hanover responded quickly with Cohorst finding running back Cooper Bruna for a 48-yard touchdown pass, giving Hanover the lead back 20-14 with 5:16 left in the third quarter.
The Knights were not going down yet, as they took 9 plays 65-yards to score another touchdown and tie the game. Weston Sherrer would put in his second touchdown of the night from 3-yards out, giving us the score of 20-20 with 10:00 left in the game.
The next Hanover drive would end in a punt, but then quarterback Wyatt Schmidtberger would throw an interception. The Wildcats would respond and take the lead after yet another trick play touchdown, as it was Meyn once again throwing a pass, this time to Hunter Kickhaefer for a 53-yard touchdown. The points after were good, and Hanover led the Knights 28-20 with 4:30 left in the game.
Victoria would punt on their next offensive drive, but the defense stepped up and forced Hanover to punt as well. The offense had one more chance to try and tie the game, but the Wildcats picked off Schmidtberger one more time and the game was over.
Although the Knights lost, Weston Sherrer really stood out, rushing 23 times for 128 yards and two touchdowns.
Hanover's Kadrick Cohorst also had a great game, carrying the ball 11 times for 69 yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as going 7 for 11 passing for 91 yards and a passing touchdown.
Congratulations to the Hanover Wildcats on a perfect 13-0 season and a state championship win.
Despite the loss, Victoria finishes yet another stellar season as state runner-up for the second year in a row and a 12-1 record. Congratulations on an amazing season Knights!