Victoria Blanks Hodgeman County, Returns to State Title Game
VICTORIA-Wyatt Schmidtberger rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another as the Victoria Knights rolled past Hodgeman County 48-0 in the 8-Player Division ll West Sub-State Championship Game Friday evening at Victoria Junior-Senior High School.
Hodgeman County won the opening coin toss and elected to defer until the second half, allowing Victoria to have the game's first possession. The Knights marched 67 yards in nine plays with Weston Scherrer commencing the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run to give Victoria an 8-0 lead following the successful two-point conversion.
After stopping the Longhorns on a three and out, Victoria drove 48 yards in 10 plays with Schmidtberger scoring from three yards out, increasing the lead to 16-0 at the end of the first quarter after another successful two-point try.
The Knights scored the second quarter's only touchdown with 1:33 left before halftime on a 31-yard scamper by Mason Mauch, who broke two tackles along the way, swelling the lead to 24-0 with the two-point conversion. Hodgeman County then marched into Victoria territory just before halftime thanks to a 35-yard pass from Gavin Reece to Devin Shank. The Longhorns made it as far as the Knights' 15-yard line before Will Schmeidler intercepted Reece on the final play of the first half.
Much of the third quarter was a stalemate between the two District 6 powers. Victoria's first three drives of the second half ended with a fumble and two turnovers on downs, but the Knights defense held its ground and didn't allow Hodgeman County to capitalize on good field position, which resulted from the short-circuited drives.
An interception by Wes Dreiling then set Victoria up on Hodgeman County's 23-yard line late in the third quarter and Nick Sander capped the drive with a five-yard run and the two-point conversion increased Victoria's advantage to 32-0 after three quarters.
Following a blocked punt that gave Victoria possession on the Hodgeman County 11-yard line, Schmidtberger connected with Wesley Sander for a five-yard touchdown pass to grow the margin to 40-0 after another successful two point try. Two more points were added just 54 seconds later when Kyle Huser, playing his final home game in Victoria blocked a Tyson Younger punt out of the end zone and through the uprights of the goalpost to make the score 42-0.
The knockout blow occurred with 5:18 left in the fourth quarter when Schmidtberger scored from five yards out after his touchdown on the previous play was negated by a penalty. That provided the final margin of 48-0 and Victoria punched its ticket to its second consecutive 8-Player Division ll State Championship Game.
Victoria's running attack was once again dominant as the Knights rushed for 277 of their 322 yards of total offense. Mauch was the leading ground gainer, with 16 carries for 86 yards and a touchdown. Scherrer who had 262 yards rushing and four touchdowns in last week's Sectional win over Hutchinson Central Christian, was limited to 73 yards on 13 carries, but that statistic was largely the product of five different Knights running the ball with a total no lower than 37 yards.
The Victoria defense pitched its sixth shutout of the season, not including their 2-0 forfeit victory over Osborne in Week 3 by allowing Hodgeman County (10-2) just 72 total yards of offense and just eight yards rushing.
Victoria (12-0) will play Hanover in the 8-Player Division ll State Championship Game on Saturday, November 29 at 7 p.m. at Kiowa County High School in Greensburg. The Knights lost to Axtell in last year's title tilt 50-0, but the Eagles fell short in their quest for a rematch when they lost to Hanover 34-24 in the Eastern Sub-State Championship Game. The Knights will be seeking their eighth state title and first in a decade.
The game between Victoria and Hanover will be broadcast live on 107.9 FM KZRS with the pre-game show set for 6:30 p.m. The game will also air online at KRSL.com and be streamed on Alexa devices. KZRS will also carry the 8-Player Division l State Championship matchup between Lincoln and South Central at 11 a.m. on November 29 with the pre-game show set for 10:30 a.m.