Hanover Wildcats have been a dominate 8-Man football team in the Stte of Kansas for years and that hasn’t changed this year as they are on the prowl to defend their 8-Man Division II State title from last season.

The Wildcats are back in the Sub-State round of the playoffs for the sixth straight year and are looking for a bid the State title game for the fourth straight season. Hanover has had their toughest tests of the season in the playoffs but have ultimately still won by sizeable margins each time beating Rock Hills 62-32 in the first round and then topping Caldwell 58-12 in the Sectional round. On offense the Wildcats are mauling opponents scoring 55.6 points per game on the year with plenty of playmakers. Daiken Stallbaumer leads the offense with 624 yards passing with 11 touchdowns and 503 yards rushing with 15 scores. Carter Bruna has added 682 yards on the ground with 15 touchdowns and Kevin Diederich has ran for 730 yards with 18 scores, while guys like Thomas Atkins, Brennan Zabokrtsky and Taegan Schwartz all have contribute too. The Hanover defense has given up just 76 total points this season with only one team scoring more than 12 points against them in a contest. The Wildcat defense has recorded 18 sacks and 28 turnovers (21 interceptions) in 11 games and over their current 23-game winning streak have given up over 12 points only twice and have won every game but one by 30+ points.

Pike Valley is back where they were last year in the Sub-State round of the playoffs and facing Hanover for the second straight year also (Wildcats won last year 48-0). The Panthers are 11-0 on the season and back in the Sub-State round of the playoffs after beating Axtell 62-16 in the first round and topped Central Christian 52-0 in Sectionals. On the year the rushing attack has led the Panthers with 233 yards per game but they do pass for 120 yards per contest, while averaging 51.1 points per game. Davante Hammer has over 1,000 yards passing with 19 touchdowns and has ran for 544 yards with 11 scores, while Pike Valley has plenty of speed with Lane Peters and Cole Strickler who have 650 and 691 yards rushing, respectively and each have 14 touchdowns. Defensively the Panthers have been stingy too given up just 11.1 points per game and have forced 32 turnovers on the season.  

Hanover has won the last three games between the two teams with the last Pike Valley win over the Wildcats coming back in 2005; matchup is set for Friday, November 17th at 7:00pm in Hanover. The winner continues their season on Saturday, November 25th in the 8-Man DII State title game in Newton and will take on the winner of Otis-Bison at Hodgeman County.