For the fifth straight season the Hanover Wildcats will be playing for a state title after blowing past Axtell Friday night 60-14 in the sub-state round of the 8-man DII playoffs.

It was a rematch of a week six thriller that also saw Hanover win 50-42, but this time around the Wildcats took advantage of two turnovers and nine Axtell penalties to jump out in front and never look back.

After the Eagles fumbled on the second play from scrimmage the Wildcats wasted no time jumping out in front, as senior quarterback Daiken Stallbaumer connected with senior wideout Thomas Atkins on the first play following the turnover from 31 yards out to jump out in front 8-0.

The Hanover defense then forced a three-and-out on the Eagles second possession and capitalized once again, going on an eight play, 56-yard drive that ended with a Stallbaumer 2-yard run pushing the Wildcats out to a 14-0 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter.

Axtell responded though with an eight play drive of their own to find the end zone for the first time, as junior quarterback Quinn Buessing found wideout George Volle on a 17-yard touchdown to pull the Eagles within 14-8.

Unfortunately for the Eagles they wouldn’t find the scoreboard for the remainder of the first half, while Hanover rattled off 24 unanswered points to end the half and take a 38-8 lead into the break.

Stallbaumer started the scoring with a 1-yard run, while senior fullback Carter Bruna added the final two scores on the ground from five yards and 21 yards out.

Hanover picked up right where they left off out of halftime, as Stallbaumer connected with Atkins on a 49-yard touchdown to push the Wildcats lead to 46-8 less than a minute into the second half.

Axtell responeded with a Buessing 27-yard touchdown run, but Buessing then threw a pick-six and Hanover’s Jonah Weber recovered a fumble in the end zone to push the Wildcats lead to 46 points which put the 8-man mercy rule in effect.

Buessing ended his junior campaign throwing for 209 yards and two total touchdowns, while George Volle finished with 106 yards receiving on 11 receptions.

Senior wideout Hunter Koch also ended his stellar season with six receptions for 37 yards, and ends his year with two state records including the most touchdown receptions in a single season and the most in a career.

Axtell ends their remarkable season with a 10-2 record with both losses coming to Hanover who has now won 37 straight games.

The Wildcats were led on the night by Daiken Stallbaumer who threw for 171 yards and two touchdowns to Thomas Atkins, while Carter Bruna ran for 91 yards and two scores.

Hanover (12-0) will look to capture a third straight 8-man state title Saturday against Osborne (11-1) with kickoff at 11 a.m. at Newton-Fischer Field in Newton.