Shane Talbot

The Axtell Eagles took flight this season with the goal of playoffs in their mind and that they accomplished making it to the Sub-State contests in 8-Man DII for the first time since 2008. Axtell opened the playoffs beating Sylvan-Lucas Unified 78-28, then topped the #1 team in the State in Chetopa 42-34 in Regionals, but saw their season come to a close with a 70-44 loss to Argonia-Attica in Sub-State, finishing the season 9-3.

Senior, Shane Talbot finished his Axtell football career with a strong performance in the Sub-State loss rushing for 121 yards on 18 carries for a 6.7 yard per carry average, while rushing for a pair of touchdowns. On top of his strong rushing performance Shane snagged seven passes for 89 yards and another touchdown and also led the team in tackles with 17 in the loss.

On the season, Talbot was an integral part of the Axtell Eagles success throughout the year and ended the season with his three best rushing performances, surpassing 100 yards rushing in all three playoff games. Shane finished with 603 yards on the ground on 95 carries with 14 touchdowns, while catching 43 passes for 665 yards with nine scores. Special team’s plays were another big factor that Talbot brought to the game for Axtell as he finished with 573 yards in the return game with a punt return touchdown (1,841 all-purpose yards).

Shane’s impact was just on offense and special teams as he also finished as the team’s leading tackler on the year with 126 tackles and had four interceptions, including a pick six.

Behind Shane’s great season and multiple other great performances by every Eagle, the Axtell Eagles put together their best record since 2004, finishing 9-3 and making the Sub-State in 8-Man DII.