By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
The Quivira Heights Thunderbirds took to passing while the Hanover Wildcats stayed on the ground.
While both sides had their share of offensive fireworks, it was Hanover’s ground game that prevailed for a 66-36 win Saturday in the Eight-Man Division II football championships at Fischer Field.
“Their pass defense was pretty solid,” Hanover coach Matt Heuer said. “We saw it on film and knew it was pretty solid. We knew we had to spread it out a little bit, and get them at the mid-line. We had to open up our speed game. I thought we did a tremendous job of that. We did a great job of getting our quarterback on the edge. He did a great job of reading. He did a great job of getting it to his backs and distributing it. He even called plays out there. Overall, our offensive line played extremely well. They got to the second level and continued to block.”
The Wildcats ran for 352 yards with three rushers over 100 yards. Quarterback Jerod Diederich had 121 yards rushing with three touchdowns, followed by Ethan Diederich with 115 yards and a touchdown and Trevor Jueneman with 112 yards and three touchdowns.
“Our line just blocked absolutely awesome,” Jerod Diederich said. “We had all kinds of holes. (With the running backs we have), it really makes it easy, but it all starts with the line.”
Jerod Diederich also threw for a touchdown and intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown.
“The coverage we had, one of our defenders would slow them down a bit, and that just made it easy,” Jerod Diederich said. “They put together some good drives on us. Deep down, we knew we were fine as long as we stuck to our game. All the credit goes to (Ingham). He’s a heck of a player and made a heck of a catch.”
Quivira Heights quarterback Gunner Phelan hit 25 of 44 passes for 281 yards with four touchdowns. Phelan added a rushing touchdown. All four touchdown catches went to Jacob Ingham, who finished with 16 catches for 206 yards. Ingham had a number of circus catches under heavy pressure from the defense.
“I know I gave 100 percent all the time,” Ingham said. “I have no regrets about it. We just couldn’t make it happen. They’re a good team — definitely the best team we’ve seen all year. They just came out on top. We got back in the game. We started figuring things out a little bit. We started moving the ball. We got first downs and scored a couple of times. The hole we dug in the first half was just too large. We just went to the passing game — running posts, outs, anything we could do to make things happen. We improvised when we had to.”
After each side traded stops on their first possessions, Hanover struck first, taking advantage of a fumble on a punt play to score on a one-yard Jerod Diederich run. A long kickoff return by Jacob Ingham set up a one-yard Phelan touchdown run.
Hanover finished the half outscoring the Thunderbirds 36-8. The last score of the first half was a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jerod Diederich.
Hanover scored first in the second half. In danger of the 45-point rule kicking in, Quivira Heights scored on a pass from Phelan to Ingham for a 20-yard score. The PAT pass was deflected into Ingham’s hand for two points. Phelan and Ingham connected on the first play of the fourth quarter for a four-yard touchdown pass. Phelan hit Ingham for a 25-yard pass with 5:39 remaining. Quivira Heights missed both extra-point attempts and Jueneman answered each Ingham fourth-quarter score with a rushing touchdown of his own with Hanover converting the two-point conversions.
Hanover finishes 12-1, winning its second straight title and third overall. Quivira Heights finishes 10-3.
“It’s just as sweet,” Heuer said. “Every year, you that one behind you. You kinda look for the next one. It’s one of those things where every year, it’s sweet, and every year, it’s a different team. Every year, it’s got a great feeling.”
Quiv.Hts. 16 0 8 12 —36
Hanover 24 20 6 16 —66
Scoring
1q. H J.Diederich 1-yd. run (J.Diederich run) 6:05
1q, QH Phelan 1-yd. run (Ingham pass friom Phelan) 4:55
1q. H J.Diederich 45-yd. run (Nicholson pass from J.Diederich) 4:15
1q. H Nicholson 23-yd. pass from J.Diederich (T.Jueneman run) 2:51
1q, QH Ingham 10-yd. pass from Phelan (Ingham pass from Phelan) :30
2q. H J.Diederich 8-yd. run (pass failed) 5:56
2q. H E.Diederich 13-yd. run (pass failed) 1:24
2q. H J.Diederich 35-yd. interception return (E.Diederich) :34
3q. H T.Jueneman 8-yd. run (pass failed) 5:28
3q. QH Ingham 20-yd. pass from Phelan (Ingham pass from Phelan) 3:40
4q. QH Ingham 4-yd. pass from Phelan (pass failed) 11:51
4q. H T.Jueneman 2-yd. run (T.Jueneman run) 9:03
4q. QH Ingham 25-yd. pass from Phelan (pass failed) 5:39
4q. H T.Jueneman 7-yd. run (Nicholson from J.Diederich) 3:32
Team stats
QH Han.
First downs 16 17
Rushing-yards 22-29 52-352
Passing yards 278 50
Comp-att-int 26-46-3 4-9-2
Punts-avg. 3-23.7 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-0
Penalties-yards 3-29 7-64
Individual stats
RUSHING — Quivira Heights: Swisher 4-13, Ingham 6-12, Siemsen 2-3, Phelan 9-1, Trevino 1-0. Hanover: J.Diederich 16-121, E.Diederich 16-115, T.Jueneman 16-112, Brent Bruna 2-2, A.Diederich 1-1, Steinfort 1-1.
PASSING — Quivira Heights: Phelan 25-44-3, 281 yds.; Siemsen 1-2-0, (-3) yds.. Hanover: J. Diederich 4-9-2, 50 yds.
RECEIVING — Quivira Heights: Ingham 16-206, Riedel 5-48, Siemsen 3-24, Trevino 1-3, Jezek 1-(-3). Hanover: Nicholson 3-32, T. Jueneman 1-18.
Missed field goals — none.
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By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan
The Quivira Heights Thunderbirds took to passing while the Hanover Wildcats stayed on the ground.
While both sides had their share of offensive fireworks, it was Hanover’s ground game that prevailed for a 66-36 win Saturday in the Eight-Man Division II football championships at Fischer Field.
“Their pass defense was pretty solid,” Hanover coach Matt Heuer said. “We saw it on film and knew it was pretty solid. We knew we had to spread it out a little bit, and get them at the mid-line. We had to open up our speed game. I thought we did a tremendous job of that. We did a great job of getting our quarterback on the edge. He did a great job of reading. He did a great job of getting it to his backs and distributing it. He even called plays out there. Overall, our offensive line played extremely well. They got to the second level and continued to block.”
The Wildcats ran for 352 yards with three rushers over 100 yards. Quarterback Jerod Diederich had 121 yards rushing with three touchdowns, followed by Ethan Diederich with 115 yards and a touchdown and Trevor Jueneman with 112 yards and three touchdowns.
“Our line just blocked absolutely awesome,” Jerod Diederich said. “We had all kinds of holes. (With the running backs we have), it really makes it easy, but it all starts with the line.”
Jerod Diederich also threw for a touchdown and intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown.
“The coverage we had, one of our defenders would slow them down a bit, and that just made it easy,” Jerod Diederich said. “They put together some good drives on us. Deep down, we knew we were fine as long as we stuck to our game. All the credit goes to (Ingham). He’s a heck of a player and made a heck of a catch.”
Quivira Heights quarterback Gunner Phelan hit 25 of 44 passes for 281 yards with four touchdowns. Phelan added a rushing touchdown. All four touchdown catches went to Jacob Ingham, who finished with 16 catches for 206 yards. Ingham had a number of circus catches under heavy pressure from the defense.
“I know I gave 100 percent all the time,” Ingham said. “I have no regrets about it. We just couldn’t make it happen. They’re a good team — definitely the best team we’ve seen all year. They just came out on top. We got back in the game. We started figuring things out a little bit. We started moving the ball. We got first downs and scored a couple of times. The hole we dug in the first half was just too large. We just went to the passing game — running posts, outs, anything we could do to make things happen. We improvised when we had to.”
After each side traded stops on their first possessions, Hanover struck first, taking advantage of a fumble on a punt play to score on a one-yard Jerod Diederich run. A long kickoff return by Jacob Ingham set up a one-yard Phelan touchdown run.
Hanover finished the half outscoring the Thunderbirds 36-8. The last score of the first half was a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jerod Diederich.
Hanover scored first in the second half. In danger of the 45-point rule kicking in, Quivira Heights scored on a pass from Phelan to Ingham for a 20-yard score. The PAT pass was deflected into Ingham’s hand for two points. Phelan and Ingham connected on the first play of the fourth quarter for a four-yard touchdown pass. Phelan hit Ingham for a 25-yard pass with 5:39 remaining. Quivira Heights missed both extra-point attempts and Jueneman answered each Ingham fourth-quarter score with a rushing touchdown of his own with Hanover converting the two-point conversions.
Hanover finishes 12-1, winning its second straight title and third overall. Quivira Heights finishes 10-3.
“It’s just as sweet,” Heuer said. “Every year, you that one behind you. You kinda look for the next one. It’s one of those things where every year, it’s sweet, and every year, it’s a different team. Every year, it’s got a great feeling.”
Quiv.Hts. 16 0 8 12 —36
Hanover 24 20 6 16 —66
Scoring
1q. H J.Diederich 1-yd. run (J.Diederich run) 6:05
1q, QH Phelan 1-yd. run (Ingham pass friom Phelan) 4:55
1q. H J.Diederich 45-yd. run (Nicholson pass from J.Diederich) 4:15
1q. H Nicholson 23-yd. pass from J.Diederich (T.Jueneman run) 2:51
1q, QH Ingham 10-yd. pass from Phelan (Ingham pass from Phelan) :30
2q. H J.Diederich 8-yd. run (pass failed) 5:56
2q. H E.Diederich 13-yd. run (pass failed) 1:24
2q. H J.Diederich 35-yd. interception return (E.Diederich) :34
3q. H T.Jueneman 8-yd. run (pass failed) 5:28
3q. QH Ingham 20-yd. pass from Phelan (Ingham pass from Phelan) 3:40
4q. QH Ingham 4-yd. pass from Phelan (pass failed) 11:51
4q. H T.Jueneman 2-yd. run (T.Jueneman run) 9:03
4q. QH Ingham 25-yd. pass from Phelan (pass failed) 5:39
4q. H T.Jueneman 7-yd. run (Nicholson from J.Diederich) 3:32
Team stats
QH Han.
First downs 16 17
Rushing-yards 22-29 52-352
Passing yards 278 50
Comp-att-int 26-46-3 4-9-2
Punts-avg. 3-23.7 0-0
Fumbles-lost 3-1 3-0
Penalties-yards 3-29 7-64
Individual stats
RUSHING — Quivira Heights: Swisher 4-13, Ingham 6-12, Siemsen 2-3, Phelan 9-1, Trevino 1-0. Hanover: J.Diederich 16-121, E.Diederich 16-115, T.Jueneman 16-112, Brent Bruna 2-2, A.Diederich 1-1, Steinfort 1-1.
PASSING — Quivira Heights: Phelan 25-44-3, 281 yds.; Siemsen 1-2-0, (-3) yds.. Hanover: J. Diederich 4-9-2, 50 yds.
RECEIVING — Quivira Heights: Ingham 16-206, Riedel 5-48, Siemsen 3-24, Trevino 1-3, Jezek 1-(-3). Hanover: Nicholson 3-32, T. Jueneman 1-18.
Missed field goals — none.
