The consensus #1 team in 8-Man Division-II all season long has been the Axtell Eagles. They continued their dominance last week as they used a big fourth quarter push to get by Hanover in Regional’s 52-26.

It was a game that was close for nearly three full quarters, but the Axtell defense late would force two Hanover interceptions and a turnover on downs. The offense would respond by adding touchdowns following those key turnovers.

Quarterback Isaac Detweiler is arguably the best quarterback in 8-Man football this season. Last week against Hanover, Detweiler rushed for over 200 yards and added over 140 passing yards with five total touchdowns.

On the season, Detweiler has rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and passed for nearly 1,500 yards with 50 total touchdowns and just two interceptions.

Detweiler has had the luxury with a lot of pieces around him who have continued to contribute each week. Brandon Schmelzle is the second leading rusher with over 540 yards this season with 14 touchdowns. Schmelzle also leads the Eagles with 31 receptions for 513 yards and 9 more scores.

Grady Buessing has added nearly 400 receiving yards and nine touchdowns while averaging nearly 19 yards per reception.

Eli Broxterman has been solid this season as well as he has rushed for over 340 yards and has over 400 receiving yards with 11 total touchdowns.

Axtell’s offense is averaging over 55 points per game while the defense is only giving up 12.6 points per game. The 26 points allowed last week against Hanover was the most given up by the Eagles defense this season.

Standing in Axtell’s way this week is the Waverly Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are 7-1 and defeated Marais Des Cygnes Valley last week 54-14.

Bulldogs quarterback Ben Meehan has thrown for over 1,000 yards this season. Their leading rusher is Damian Foster who is approaching 1,200 yards on the season and averages nearly 10 yards per carry.

Waverly’s lone loss this season was against #4 Lebo in week three 42-34.

The Bulldogs average over 41 points per game while their defense surrenders just under 15 points per game.

These two teams have played just once in the last two decades, Axtell defeated Waverly 54-8 in the postseason in 2018.

The ball game can be heard on 92.1 KMZA with pregame coverage starting around 6:45 on Friday night.