By Rick Peterson Jr. – KSHSAA Covered
GREENSBURG – It was a fitting way to punctuate four seasons of utter dominance.
With Axtell leading Victoria by 44 points late in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Eight-Player Division II championship game, the only question left was if the game would go the distance.
Axtell was facing a third-and-28 from the Victoria 31 when senior quarterback Brandon Schmelzle suggested running a play – a double reverse flea-flicker screen – that the Eagles had fooled around with in practice.
“About three of them came up to me and said, ‘Hey, what do you think about this play?’ ” Axtell coach Eric Detweiler said. “So we ran it in practice, and lo and behold, it actually looked pretty decent. So they said, ‘Can we run it in a game?’ and I said, ‘No, I don’t know about that.’
“We got to the end, and I said, ‘Go for it.’”
The Eagles executed the play to perfection, with Landon Schmitz taking the screen for a 31-yard touchdown to force the mercy rule with 2:01 left, completing a 50-0 victory to give Axtell its fourth consecutive state championship and extend its win streak to 52.
“I was scrolling through TikTok or something and a college team ran it,” Schmelzle said. “I was like, ‘That’s kind of cool. I wonder if we can run it?’
“It was pretty special,” Schmelzle said of the ending.
“It was just a final note on their senior season and it worked out great,” Detweiler said.
Axtell (13-0) was stopped on its first two possessions before unleashing one of its patented monster runs. Fueled by a pair of Victoria turnovers, the Eagles scored 22 points in a span of 2 minutes and 50 seconds late in the first quarter.
“When the momentum is going, we are on top of the world. No one can stop us,” Schmelzle said.
Schmelzle put the Eagles on the board with a 20-yard run to cash an interception by Rilyn Buessing. On Victoria’s next possession, sophomore Wyatt Detweiler scored on a 16-yard fumble return to get the Eagles rolling.
“I was backside linebacker flowing into the play, trusting my teammates,” Detweiler said. “It popped right into my hands.
“It definitely gave us some momentum. We felt a lot more confident after that play.”
After another stop, Schmelzle laid a perfect pass over the middle to Detweiler for a 34-yard touchdown pass, and the Eagles never looked back. Axtell led 30-0 at halftime before tacking on three more TDs in the second half.
“I don’t know if it was pre-game jitters or what that had both teams a little nervous. But momentum is a huge thing in eight-man football and I’m glad we got it,” Eric Detweiler said.
“We had a good game plan going in,” Victoria coach Doug Oberle said. “Obviously great teams will adjust to that, and they did. Couple missed tackles here and there and we didn’t adjust the outside pressure the way we wanted to.
“We can’t give them short fields, and obviously we did that.”
Schmelzle, a University of Kansas commit, threw for three touchdowns, including a 65-yard strike to Eli Broxterman. He had two scores on the ground.
Victoria (12-1) finished with 181 yards of offense. The Knights saw two deep drives stall out in the red zone.
“There’s a reason they’ve won 52 games in a row,” Oberle said of Axtell. “I have no regrets in terms of what we did and how we played. We hold our heads high. I told the guys that if this is the worst thing that happens to you in the next seven to 10 years you’ve had a blessed life.
“Tough day. Obviously we didn’t get what we wanted. But hats off to Axtell.”
Sophomore Weston Scherrer was Victoria’s top source of offense with 97 total yards.
Axtell’s senior class of Schmelzle, Broxterman, Rilyn Buessing, Blaise Buessing, Gavin Shaughnessy and Daltyn Heinen finished their careers with a 52-0 record.
“It means everything,” Eric Detweiler said. “To be undefeated throughout their careers is unheard of. I’m glad it worked out.
“Every (title) is just something special – whether you win one or your fourth in a row. It’s just something you can’t imagine.”
AXTELL 50, VICTORIA 0
AXTELL (13-0) … 22 … 8 … 14 … 6 … – … 50
VICTORIA (12-1) … 0 … 0 … 0 … 0 … – … 0
Axtell – Schmelzle 20 run (Buessing pass from Schmelzle)
Axtell – Detweiler 16 fumble return (run failed)
Axtell – Detweiler 34 pass from Schmelzle (Broxterman run)
Axtell – Schmelzle 1 run (Broxterman run)
Axtell – Broxterman 65 pass from Schmelzle (pass failed)
Axtell – Schmelzle 3 run (Buessing pass from Schmelzle)
Axtell – Schmelzle 31 pass to Schmitz
TEAM STATISTICS
… AXT … VIC
Rushes yards … 36-104 … 38-100
Passing yards … 165 … 81
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) … 8-17-0 … 7-19-1
Total plays-yards … 53-269 … 57-181
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Axtell: Schmelzle 21-50, Broxterman 9-39, Schmitz 6-15. Victoria: Pfeifer 14-48, Scherrer 11-33, Griffin 11-7, Schmidtberger 2-12.
PASSING – Axtell: Schmelzle 8-17-0, 165 yards. Victoria: Griffin 6-16-1, 81 yards, Schmidberger 1-3-0, 0 yards.
RECEIVING – Axtell: Broxterman 4-75, Detweiler 3-59, Schmitz 1-31. Victoria: Scherrer 3-64, Schmidberger 1-13, Braun 1-2, VonLintel 1-2, Griffin 1-0.
