CLASS C-1: Warriors Battle Past Sidney In Defensive Gem
By Tony Chapman – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
The strong northwest wind might have disguised how good the two defenses were when unbeatens Sidney and Wahoo faced off in the Class C-1 state championship game.
Just don’t tell the coaches of either team. They both got about exactly what they thought they would. Neither team reached 200 yards – Sidney outgained Wahoo 178-177. There were only 19 first downs. So, what won for Wahoo in their 20-6 win over the Raiders?
Both coaches agree on that, too.
“Just two great defenses,” Sidney coach Ryan Smith. “You can tell our kids really love to play defense. A few special teams plays and a couple of turnovers made the difference in the game.”
Wahoo coach Chad Fox agreed. His Warriors won for the 38th time in 39 tries in corralling their second consecutive state championship.
“We knew that Sidney had a great defense,” Fox said. “Getting yards against them is tough; they are tough to find. They average giving up about 55 yards rushing all season. We knew it would be tough because we wanted to run the ball.
“But hats off to our guys. We scored at opportune times and took advantage of some short fields.”
The Warriors never trailed and took the lead near the end of the first quarter on Kip Brigham’s 15-yard run. It came at the end of a fast moving quarter when Sidney took the opening kick and drove all the way to the Warrior 3 before Jase Kaminski and Eli Shada turned away Rhys Dorcey near the goal line.
Using the wind, Wahoo got one first down and was forced to punt and Kaden Christian – who punted only four times all season – delivered a dandy that went over Dorcey’s head and pinned Sidney at their own 14. The Warriors then forced Sidney back to the 1 in three plays and Fox used timeouts to force a punt into the wind.
“The first defensive stand was huge,” Fox said. “And then when you need (Kaden) to punt, he can punt. He’s legit good.”
Sidney’s punt only went to the Wahoo 28 and Brigham – who took down Battle Creek’s Todd Uhlir as the all time single season scoring leader in the game – scored three plays later.
“Clearly wanted to score that first drive,” Smith said. “We did a really nice job of getting our running game going. You don’t know if that changes the game a little bit, but we definitely would have liked to get that one (in the end zone).”
On their next possession, the Warriors got the longest play of the game and a two score cushion. After forcing a three-and-out, Wahoo faced a third-and-17 at their own 38 when Eli Shada got behind the Raiders and Kaminski’s long ball into the wind hit him in stride.
“The whole game was defense on defense,” said Shada, who led Wahoo with 12 tackles. “Sidney is such a great team.
“We don’t practice that play much, but it has happened a few times this year,” he added of the touchdown. “I thought the ball would go crazy (into the wind), but it was a perfect throw.
When Josh Fox – the coach’s son – intercepted Doty on the Sidney’s next possession, Brigham would score four plays later and Wahoo could rely on their defense the rest of the way.
The Raiders, in their first ever state championship game, got 64 yards on 28 carries for Dorcey and were led defensively by Iowa State commit Keian Kaiser with nine tackles. They held Brigham to 86 yards on 27 carries and the Warriors had just nine first downs.
“It’s been a great run with these guys,” coach Fox said. “We are going to miss them because they are all great kids. Our senior group was a special group. It’s bittersweet. Some of these kids will never be on a football field together again. That always makes it tougher.
“But, one way to end it was with a win and we did it.”
CLASS B: Axmann, Waverly End Long Title Drought
By Chris Basnett – For the Nebraska School Activities Association
Nathan Axmann’s first carry in the Class B state football championship ended with the ball on the turf and Gretna East scoring a touchdown the other way.
His next 40 cemented his place in Waverly history and led the Vikings to a long-awaited state title.
Behind one of the great individual rushing performances in Class B championship history — 41 carries, 277 yards, three touchdowns — Axmann and Waverly powered past Gretna East 42-27 to win the program’s first state title since 1980.
With what looked like the entire town of Waverly watching, clad in black just like the team they were cheering on — Monday night’s attendance of 6,314 was 2,300 more than last year’s Class B final — the Vikings shook off years of semifinal disappointments and near misses over the last decade to cap a 13-0 season.
“It’s bigger than just this group. I’ve been here now seven years, and I’ve had so many great groups go through who have poured so much into this and laid the foundation and taught these guys how to act like champions,” Waverly coach Reed Manstedt said. “For them to go and do it says a lot about them.
“They just consistently answer the call. But this is much bigger than just this team. It’s teams past, it’s our community, it’s our school, it’s our coaches. I could not be more happy.”
Waverly was happy to keep giving the ball to Axmann.
Inside, outside, on a 38-yard screen pass that saw the 6-foot, 190-pound senior break multiple tackles. Nine times on a 12-play, 80-yard fourth quarter march that chewed up more than six minutes and turned Waverly’s one-score advantage into a 35-21 lead on Axmann’s 3-yard scoring run with 3:42 left.
And one last time, after Axmann recovered a Gretna East onside kick, when the Griffins’ defense seemed to serendipitously part and leave Axmann with a 53-yard expanse of green field turf to the end zone.
Axmann considered going down so Waverly could run out the clock. He decided to deliver a knockout punch instead.
“We’ve been in the semifinals all these times, and we just couldn’t break through,” Axmann said. “But to do it for (coach) Manstedt, my senior year, it just means so much to me because of all the heartbreaks we’ve had the past couple years.”
It looked for a while like Waverly might roll to gold. After the early turnover and Gretna East touchdown, the Vikings scored 28 consecutive points and at one juncture held a 188-39 advantage in total offense.
But Chase Grow fired four touchdown passes for Gretna East (11-2), including consecutive 28-yard strikes to Caden Annis over the second and third quarters, to cut a 28-7 Waverly lead to 28-21 late in the third period.
Grow threw for 225 yards. Air Force running back commit Connor Sams, Class B’s leading rusher, ran for 111 yards on just 11 carries. Annis finished with four catches for 113 yards and the two scores, with Carver Fritchen and Seth Kraegel also catching touchdowns.
But Gavin McMillan had two touchdowns of his own for Waverly, catching a 19-yard pass from Brockston Teply for Waverly’s first score, and putting the Vikings ahead for good with a 15-yard run early in the second period.
Teply added a 43-yard scoring strike to Connor Schere, and finished 8-for-11 for 138 yards to provide just enough balance to Axmann.
“(Our guys) have been answering the call all year. That’s been what has made us good,” Manstedt said. “This year has been a good balance, with a good defense, and a good offense, and really good special teams.”
Waverly won four one-score games on the way to finishing 13-0, adding an extra touch of sweetness to Monday’s celebration.
“I’m just so thankful, so happy,” Manstedt said. “It’s been a journey. It’s been a long time coming.”
Appropriately, Axmann was the last player to leave the field Monday night. His last carry was to the locker room with the state championship trophy.
He didn’t drop that one either.
Tony Chapman is a freelance writer based in Grand Island. He has written for multiple Nebraska daily and weekly newspapers. His weekly Harvest Sports Newsletter covers a wide variety of Nebraska prep sports.
Chris Basnett is a freelance writer based in Lincoln. He has covered prep and college sports for more than 20 years and most recently was the assistant sports editor at the Lincoln Journal-Star. He currently provides content for the Harvest Sports Newsletter.