GREENSBURG – Braylon Meyn’s passing ability has been a well-kept secret this season for the Hanover Wildcats. 

Meyn had attempted just one pass all season heading into Saturday’s Eight-Player Division II championship game against Victoria, even though Hanover had installed plays designed to showcase the arm of the senior receiver.

Locked in a battle with fellow unbeaten Victoria, the Wildcats chose the perfect moment to break out their bag of tricks.

Meyn threw two touchdown passes — including the game-winner to Hunter Kickhaefer — helping the Wildcats outlast the Knights 28-20 on Saturday night at Kiowa County High School. It was Hanover’s eighth state championship and seventh under coach Matt Heuer. 

“We’ve had those plays all season, we just needed the right time to use it,” Meyn said. “Last game of the season, we might as well just go all out and run those plays.”

After Kickhaefer intercepted a Victoria pass to thwart a Knights’ drive with the score tied at 20, Meyn took the end-around from quarterback Kadrick Cohorst and lofted a pass to Kickhaefer, who raced down the sideline for the 57-yard score with 4:30 left. 

“The right end was coming for me, so I tried looking out of bounds to see if I could run because I didn’t know if it was a dead play or not,” Meyn said. “Then I saw (Kickhaefer) get a lead at the end so I chucked it up there as hard as I could on the run. Luckily, it was high and far enough that he could make a play on it.”

“I saw Braylon was all the way at the end of the sideline so I told myself I had really had to book it,” Kickhaefer said. “And then I saw it in the air and said, 'I'm going to go get this ball.' It was a really good pass by him.”

Kickhaefer later sealed it with his second interception, capping a phenomenal last six minutes for the Hanover junior that included his touchdown catch and two picks. His first interception came after he stayed home when Victoria attempted a halfback pass. 

“I'm just told to watch my guy and make sure I don't get beat over the top, and that's all I had to do,” Kickhaefer said. “I saw he didn't block my D-end, so I knew it was a pass. I had to go get that ball.” 

The Wildcats (13-0) twice had to answer Victoria touchdowns in the second half.

“Our kids made some great plays and did a great job in the face of adversity,” Heuer said. “Just like the rest of the year, our kids made plays when they had to. They stuck together and they didn't get down on themselves. That was just a testament to not only the physical, but mental maturity that we've seen this year.”

Meyn helped the Wildcats take a 12-8 lead into halftime after taking a reverse and hitting Lanxden Stallbaumer for a 45-yard score.

“There were a couple of things we’ve been working on all year and we’ve never had to use,” Heuer said. “To be honest, our quarterback was a hurting unit. We put him through the gauntlet last week to get us to this game. As the game went on, he kind of tightened up a little bit. It was one of those things where we asked Braylon to do it. He’s been a quarterback the last four years and he came up with some big plays.”

Victoria’s Ethan VonLintel changed the complexion of the game early in the third quarter after he snagged a screen pass and scored on the 23-yard interception return. Victoria added the two-point conversion to take a 14-12 lead. 

“The pick from him was amazing,” Victoria coach Doug Oberle said. “That's a high-level football play as a defensive end to catch a ball on a swing route with one hand and then take it back to the house. Our kids played hard every play, and that's how we stayed in the ballgame until the end. Just proud of them and the effort that they gave me.”

Hanover answered after Cooper Bruna took a screen pass for a 55-yard touchdown. But Victoria responded with a drive capped off by a 2-yard score from Weston Scherrer to tie it. 

Victoria had the ball near midfield in the fourth before trying to connect on a deep pass from Scherrer that was picked off at the 11 by Kickhaefer. 

Scherrer rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns for the Knights. 

Victoria (12-1) finished state runner-up for the second straight year. The Knights have a nine-player senior class. 

“We played well enough to win. My kids played hard,” Oberle said. “Credit to Hanover and coach Heuer, their kids played hard. He was the better coach today. My guys have worked hard to get to this position. I wish I could have given them a better ending. 

“These seniors played in four sub-states, two state championship games,” Oberle added. “We have a center (Kyle Huser) who started every game for us since his freshman year. This senior class is going to be missed. They've done a great job and I'm proud.”

Heuer praised the Knights and their longtime coach Oberle. 

“They’re a physical football team, they’re a well-coached football team,” Heuer said. “They do a lot of things really, really well. 

“Honestly, if we didn't have to go in the bag of tricks, it might have been a different game. That is a fabulous football team, a fabulous group of athletes and they have a very, very, very good coaching staff.”

It was Hanover’s first state championship since 2020. Hanover snapped Twin Valley League rival Axtell’s 58-game win streak in Week 7 and then ended the Eagles’ four-year championship reign in the semifinals. 

The Wildcats have seven seniors. 

“Our kids did a really good job of buying in through the course of the entire offseason and through the course of the season,” Heuer said. “We had a lot of hurdles as we went through the course of the season that had maybe tripped us up the last few years. But this year, we did a really good job of overcoming them and facing the next one with that challenge as something to look forward to and not something to shy away from. That's a testament to our seniors and some of our underclassmen that gained some experience last year.”
 

 

 

 

 

HANOVER 28, VICTORIA 20 

Victoria … 6 … 0 … 8 … 6 … – … 20 

Hanover … 6 … 6 … 8 … 8 … – … 28 

Victoria – Scherrer 20 run (two-point try failed) 

Hanover – Cohorst 6 run (two-point try failed) 

Hanover – Stallbaumer 45 pass from Meyn (two-point try failed) 

Victoria – VonLintel 23 interception return (two-point try good) 

Hanover – C. Bruna 55 pass from Cohorst (two-point try good)

Victoria – Scherrer 2 run (two-point try failed) 

Hanover – Kickhaefer 57 pass from Meyn (two-point try good) 

TEAM STATISTICS 

VIC … HAN … 
Rushes-yards …44-198 …  31-99
Passing yards…  15 … 228
Passing (Comp-Att-Int) … 3-7-2 … 10-15-1
Total plays-yards … 51-213 … 47-294 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

Rushing – Victoria: Scherrer 24-118, Mauch 8-47, Schmidtberger 7-15, Sander 4-17, VonLintel 1-1. Hanover: Cohorst 14-47, C. Bruna 11-41, Jueneman 5-8, Sedlacek 1-3. 

Passing – Victoria: Schmidtberger 3-6-1, 15 yards, Scherrer 0-1-1; Hanover: Cohorst 9-13-1, 105 yards, Meyn 2-2-0, 105 yards, C. Bruna 1-1-0, 21 yards. 

Receiving – Victoria: Sander 1-12, VonLintel 1-1, Sander 1-2; Hanover: Kickhaefer 3-97, C. Bruna 2-55, Staullbaumer 1-45, Meyn 4-8, J. Bruna 1-12, Jueneman 1-11.