The Nemaha Central football team had their season end in heartbreaking fashion on Friday night in Hutchinson as Southeast of Saline rallied in the final minute to beat the Thunder 36-28 in the 2A State Championship game. 

Both teams scored on their opening drives of the game with Gannon Jacobson scoring on an 18-yard run for SES and Carter Hajek tossing a 17-yard pass to Jack Macke. 

The Trojans (13-0) outscored the Thunder (11-2) 14-0 in the second quarter to lead 20-7 at halftime. Grady Gebhardt scored twice for the Trojans on a short touchdown run and a short touchdown reception. 

Nemaha Central scored the lone touchdown of the third quarter as Hajek capped off an 83-yard, 13 play drive with a three yard run. 

SES led 20-13 going into the fourth quarter and that is where things got wild. 

The Trojans turned the ball over as they fumbled a kickoff return and the Thunder were able to score on the short field to tie the game at 20-20. Hajek found Caleb Strathman on a 24-yard pass. 

The next possession for SES was another turnover as Jacobson busted a big run but the ball popped out and the Thunder were able to pounce on it. 

The Thunder would go on a 16 play, 56-yard drive that covered over nine minutes of the fourth quarter and Hajek would score on a five yard run with the two-point coversion giving NC the 28-20 lead with less than two minutes to go. 

The Trojans wasted little time moving the ball into NC territory and they were able to get a touchdown with less than a minute to go as Jacobson scored on a four yard run. They tied the game as they were able to get the two-point conversion and it was 28-28 with less than a minute left. 

The kickoff was short and the Thunder were unable to pounce on it in time and the Trojans were able to recover inside the NC 35 yard line. 

The Thunder defense made a couple of stops and forced 4th-and-8 from the 29-yard line. However on that play, Jacobson scrambled to both sides of the field and was able to find Tucker Thaxton for a 29-yard score to give SES the lead with 11 seconds remaining. 

They were able to get the two-point conversion to lead 36-28 and the Thunder and two plays with 65 yards to go and were unable to pull off the miracle as the Trojans rallied for a wild win. 

Hajek finished the game with 44 carries for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 12-of-18 passes for 114 yards and two more scores. 

Gebhardt led the Trojans with 99 rushing yards and 28 receiving yards with two total touchdowns. Jacobson finished with 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Jacobson also completed 8-of-16 passes for 114 yards and two more scores. 

The Trojans finish off the perfect season and win their second state title in school history and first since 2005. 

The three-peat for Nemaha Central comes up short but they only lose four seniors and will have a heavy dose back in 2025 with high expectations once again. 

**Picture courtesy of NCHSThunder on X**