Victoria Powers Into Sub-State Final with Win over Central Christian

HUTCHINSON-Weston Scherrer rushed for 262 yards and four touchdowns and Victoria held off Hutchinson Central Christian for a 36-22 victory over the Cougars Friday evening in the 8-Player Division ll Sectional at Central Christian High School.

The two teams were meeting in the State Quarterfinals for the second year in a row with the Knights winning last season at home, 70-28.  The rematch was much different, especially in the first half.

Each team turned the ball over on downs twice through a scoreless first quarter which included Victoria stopping the home team on the four-yard line to short-circuit Central Christian's second drive.  Victoria's third possession not only ended with another fourth down stop, it resulted in disaster when a fumble was scooped up by Central Christian's Luke Eigsti and returned 52 yards for a touchdown giving the Cougars a 6-0 lead with 7:38 left in the second quarter after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Victoria then got untracked thanks to a 40-yard run by Scherrer that set them up at the Central Christian 20-yard line.  Two plays later, Quarterback Wyatt Schmidtberger scored on a 14-yard run and the successful two-point try put Victoria in front 8-6 with 4:27 left in the first half.  After the Cougars were forced to punt, the Knights began their next possession on their own 10-yard line and it took one play for them to score again when Scherrer broke free on a 70-yard jaunt.  The two-point conversion failed and Victoria settled for a 14-6 advantage at intermission.

The only score of the third quarter occurred on the first play from scrimmage of the second half when Scherrer took off on a 61-yard run. The score was 20-6 after the conversion failed again but the Knights appeared to be taking control of the game.  However, opportunities to extend the lead were snuffed out on a Schmidtberger interception and a Scherrer fumble.

Early in the fourth quarter, Central Christian, already facing poor field position after a botched punt return, turned the ball over on downs deep in their own territory and Scherrer made them pay with another one-play scoring drive, a product of a 12-yard run and this time the conversion was good and Victoria's lead swelled to 28-6 with seven minutes remaining in the game.

Hutchinson Central Christian (10-1) refused to give up however and cut into their deficit with 3:28 left to play on a five yard touchdown pass from Eigsti to Piercen Huff and the two-point conversion made the score 28-14.  Central Christian then nearly recovered the onsides kick but Victoria maintained possession and a 33-yard run by Scherrer resulted in a first and goal at the four-yard line.  On the next play, Scherrer took a direct snap and ran in from four yards out for his fourth touchdown of the game and the two-point try brought the advantage up to 36-14.

The Cougars drove down the field once more, aided by a roughing the passer penalty against Victoria and two plays later, Eigsti connected with Cal Barnett from 18 yards out and the two-point conversion made the score 36-22.  Central Christian then successfully recovered the next onsides kick and found themselves with a first and goal at the Victoria five-yard line with under a minute to play.  However, the Knights defense which stood strong after the third quarter turnovers, turned the Cougars away on four straight plays and ran out the clock to punch their ticket to their third consecutive trip to the Sub-State Final.

Victoria (11-0) amassed 349 yards rushing and outgained Central Christian 361-271.  Schmidtberger only passed the ball four times for 12 yards and one interception, but the Knights run-heavy offense managed to carry the night.  

Eigsti completed 16 of 32 pass attempts for 208 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, his first pick all season.  Huff who entered the game with 1,257 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns was held to eight yards on five carries, but did his damage receiving, catching 13 passes for 137 yards and a score.

Victoria will return home next Friday, November 21 to host district rival Hodgeman County with a trip to the 8-Player Division ll State Championship game on the line.  The Longhorns, who lost to Victoria, 28-14 on October 24 in the regular season finale earned their rematch with the Knights by outlasting Wallace County 34-28 in overtime on Friday night in Sharon Springs.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. in Victoria and the game will be broadcast live on KRSL 95.9 FM, online at krsl.com and streamed on Alexa devices.