During its recent run to back-to-back Class 2A state championships in 2022 and 2023 and three straight championship game appearances in the past three years, few teams have provided tougher tests for the Thunder than Sabetha.
 
Which is natural for a rivalry of their nature.
 
But none of those six contests over the last three seasons have been as challenging for Nemaha Central as Friday night’s was.
 
A defense that had been stout all season was gashed for 274 rushing yards by the Bluejays. And an offense that scored on the first play of the game and each of the Thunder’s first three possessions went dormant and turnover-prone in the second half.
 
But Nemaha Central survived. Sabetha missed two fourth-quarter field goals and the Thunder came up with a defensive stand with just over a minute to play, holding on for a 20-18 victory.
 
“I knew it was going to be a dog fight,” Nemaha Central coach Michael Glatczak said. “Two good team, 5-0 and 5-0. Our first play was a huge momentum gainer. … I told Coach Moeller, it was an all-time classic. The last couple of years we’ve shut them out a couple times and I told the guys we had to respect them. I knew they hadn’t played our schedule in their first five games, but they’re physical and well-coached.
 
“Our kids battled and we’re going to build off this.”
 

 
In its recent meetings with Nemaha, Sabetha’s defense had done as good of a job as anyone of containing Carter Hajek and the Thunder offense, holding both well under their season-long scoring and yardage averages. But the Bluejay offense hadn’t done its past, getting shut out three of the last four meetings.
 
But getting back into a groove in Week 5 against Atchison County after somewhat lackluster showings in shutout wins over Hiawatha (15-0) and Royal Valley (16-0), the Bluejays’ ground game found plenty of footing to offset Nemaha’s big offensive first half.
 
Will Voos ran for 130 yards and a touchdown – a 21-yarder early in the third quarter that pulled the Bluejays within 20-18.
 
Sabetha’s defense then gave the Bluejays multiple opportunities to go and win the game. Micah Lang picked off Hajek on the Thunders’ next possession following Voos’ TD. Sabetha then drove to the Thunder 13 early in the fourth quarter, but settled for a 30-yard field goal attempt by Jayton Meyer that was just wide right.
 
That was the first bullet Nemaha Central dodged. Hajek was picked off again – this time by Sabetha’s Malachi Strahm – and the Bluejays started at the Nemaha 25. But the Thunder defense stiffened and forced a 42-yard field goal try by Meyer, which was wide left.
 
Sabetha’s defense gave the offense one last possession, but the Bluejays couldn’t drive into scoring position.
 
“We had a chance at the end,” Sabetha coach Kaleb Moeller said. “We missed two field goals, but I’d do that 1,000 times again. I trush (Jayton) and his ability and it just didn’t go our way this time.”
 

 
It looked like Nemaha Central might have its way with the Bluejays early on. Hajek hit Caleb Strathman on a crossing route on the Thunder’s first play of the game and Strathman weaved 74 yards for a lightning-quick touchdown.
 
After forcing a Sabetha punt, the Thunder drove 80 yards for a touchdown, capped by Jayden Seitz’s 4-yard run for a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. Even when Sabetha got on the board on a 1-yard scoring run from Lang, the Thunder had an immediate answer as Hajek scored on an 11-yard run by Hajek to go up 20-8.
 
But Sabetha closed the half with a field goal from Meyer and rode that momentum throughout the second half to give Nemaha a huge scare.
 
Hajek ran for 119 yards and threw for 159 yards, but had the two interceptions in the second half that nearly proved costly.
 
“First half, we played well offensively and defensively kind of got pushed around and struggled and second half, the game flipped,” Glatczak said. “Second half, you want to take some calls back and probably should have kept it on the ground. Our defense found out how to win a ballgame.”
 
The test was much-needed for the Thunder, who had yet to really be pushed for four quarters this year, staying a step or two ahead of Rossville in a 56-28 shootout win in Week 3 and Chanute in a 28-14 win in Week 4.
 
But the Thunder had dominated their other three opponents and will be heavy favorites in the final two regular-season games against Royal Valley and Atchison County.
 
“That was really good for us,” Glatczak said. “We’ll go to the film and learn from it.”
 
While Sabetha suffered its first loss, Moeller also said there was plenty to gain from the loss.
 
“Obviously, that’s a great test for us to see where we’re at and where we need to be,” he said. “I was proud of our guys. They put in the work this summer. We had a good core come back from last year, guys who played a lot as sophomores. That was a tough, physical game and I thought we did a great job defensively, holding Hajek to what he had and second half holding them scoreless.”
 
 
OTHER WEEK 5 FOOTBALL STANDOUTS

• Santa Fe Trail only had six possessions in its game with Baldwin, but scored on all six to take a 42-21 win to improve to 6-0 for the first time since 2016. Rigley Sleichter hit 7 of 12 passes for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 129 yards and 4 touchdowns, accounting for all six of the Chargers’ scores.
• Lyndon picked up a statement-making 56-6 win over No. 4 Madison behind the most prolific passing game from quarterback Lucas Griffin, who threw for a career-high 319 yards and 5 touchdowns. Josh Vignery also had a career night with 9 catches for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns and also ran for a score while James Marcotte had 76 yards and a touchdown rushing as well as 11 tackles. Griffin also had 9 tackles and an interception.
• Tied 0-0 with Troy at halftime, Riverside exploded for 21 third-quarter points and went on to post a 28-0 win to extend its winning streak to five straight and half the Trojans’ four-game surge. Beckam Griffin started the scoring with a 4-yard run and then hit Ty’zell Harrington for a 12-yard pass. Griffin added another TD run in the fourth quarter and the Cyclones ran for 270 yards while holding Troy’s potent passing attack to just 145 yards.
• Tate Smith threw for three touchdown passes in the second quarter and four overall as Rock Creek broke free from a 7-7 tie with Marysville after one quarter for a 56-14 win. Smith threw for 270 yards and hit four different receivers for his TD tosses. Zion Bell ran for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Mustangs rolled up 485 yards of total offense.
• Despite seeing standout quarterback Kasen Parsons go down with a leg injury, Osage City stayed undefeated with a 49-14 win over St. Marys. Parsons threw for 129 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a touchdown before leaving the game in the second quarter. Reed Silver, who had caught both TD passes from Parsons, took over at quarterback and threw for 136 yards and 3 touchdowns – all to Quenten Stark – and also ran for 132 yards. Korleone Holz had a 24-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter for the Bears that cut Osage City’s lead to 21-14 before Silver and Stark connected for three straight scores. Lane Smith threw for 194 yards and a touchdown for the Bears.
• Brandon Sims’ 32-yard field goal was the lone score as Abilene beat Augusta 3-0 – its lowest scoring game since 1971. Heath Hoekman led the Cowboy defense with 5 tackles for loss, a sack, interception and forced fumble.
• Jackson Heights’ Drake Mellies ran for a school-record 334 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Cobras’ 55-0 win over Onaga. Mellies also threw for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns and surpassed 100 career touchdowns.
• Hiawatha’s Ethan Morton ran for 208 yards and 4 touchdowns and Karson Henry added 164 yards and 3 scores on the ground as the Red Hawks cruised past Oskaloosa 56-13.
• Clay Center’s Eisacc Girton enjoyed a career-best game in a 47-26 win over Chapman. Girton ran for 321 yards and 6 touchdowns.
• Sacred Heart won its fourth straight game after an 0-2 start, beating Bennington 44-8. Dominic Matteucci had 8 catches for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns and also ran for a score and added 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and an interception on defense.
• Frankfort’s Henry Ketter scored three first-quarter touchdowns – two rushing and one on an interception return – to lead the Wildcats to a 52-6 win over Blue Valley-Randolph. Wes Anderson ran for two touchdowns and threw for 140 yards and a score.
• Chase County’s Wyatt Griffin had another huge game, rushing for 361 yards and 9 touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs to a 62-48 shootout win over Flinthills. Griffin scored on runs of 1, 1, 33, 3, 65, 1, 1, 18 and 8 yards and had 51 overall carries.
• Southeast of Saline built a 44-0 lead through three quarters and finished with a 52-16 win over Hillsboro. Grady Gebhardt ran for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns and Tiernan Ptacek threw a pair of touchdown passes for the Trojans.
• Wyatt Detweiler returned the opening kickoff 74 yards for a touchdown and Axtell scored 48 points in the first quarter of a 56-0 win over St. Paul. Detweiler also had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown and also ran for three touchdowns and threw for another.

 

 

• Washington County broke through for its first victory of the season, beating Rock Hills 68-16. Gavyn Leduc ran for 171 yards and 6 touchdowns and also added four two-point conversions. He also caught a TD pass for his seventh touchdown and accounted for 50 points.
• Rural Vista dominated its showdown with Lebo as Kole Riedy ran for 258 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 48-0 win. Riedy also returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to set the tone.
• Solomon erupted for a 74-28 win over Goessel as Matt Hamm-Jones ran for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns and also picked up 13 tackles. Aiden Shepard added 85 yards rushing with 3 touchdowns and Breken Coup threw for 175 yards and had a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown.
• Aiden Scott threw for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead Shawnee Heights to a 20-3 win over Seaman.
• Junction City bounced back from its loss to Hays with a 44-6 win over Topeka High, scoring 21 points in the fourth quarter to put the Trojans away. Conrad Gomez threw for 247 yards and 2 touchdowns and also ran for two scores. Toby Johnson clinched the win with a 19-yard pick six.
• Gabriel Padilla ran for 97 yards and 3 touchdowns and Aiden Unruh added 110 yards and a touchdown as Valley Heights rolled past Herington 49-6.
• Coming off his career-best game against Cair Paravel, Wabaunsee’s Cole Frank stayed hot, rushing for 152 yards and 2 touchdowns on just eight carries in the Chargers’ 47-0 win over Maranatha. He also caught a TD pass and threw a TD pass. Jacob Debler hit 9 of 12 passes for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns and Karsyn Shoffner had two receptions both go for touchdowns and a total of 95 yards.
• Hanover scored 44 points in the first quarter and rolled to a 53-6 win over Wakefield as Kadrick Cohorst ran for two touchdowns and threw for three scores. Braylon Meyn had two TD catches.
• Jefferson West improved to 5-1 with a 47-14 win over Perry-Lecompton. Brixton Schwinn threw for 210 yards and 3 touchdowns with Brody Schwinn catching two of those TD tosses.
• Conner Bush and Andre Johnson each ran for two scores to stake Rossville to a 28-0 lead over Cair Paravel that eventually turned into a 4914 victory. Canann Mitchell added a pair of TD passes and threw for 152 yards. Cair Paravel’s Tobias Bonura finished with 345 all-purpose yards with 79 rushing, 100 receiving and 166 on returns. Chase Hastert threw for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Jefferson County North improved to 6-0 with a 48-0 shutout of Valley Falls. Will Elias completed 11 of 17 passes for 170 yards and 4 touchdowns with Christopher Noll catching 5 passes for 82 yards and 3 TDs.
• Wamego’s Logan Fulton threw for 324 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Red Raiders to a 55-24 win over Chapman and go over 1,000 yards for the season. Dominic Falco had 201 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving.