8-Man football championship previews

8-Man I

Hanover (12-0) vs. Spearville (12-0), 11 a.m. at Fischer Field, Newton

Hanover

Championships: 2009 (8-Man II), 2008 (8-Man II), 1979 (2A)

Top players: QB Will Bruna, jr.; WR Trey Lohse, sr.; WR Matthew White, sr.; WR Devin Jueneman, sr.; Adam Fritschi, jr.; DL Paden Pralle, sr.; LB Adam Zarybnicky, jr.

Key stats: Bruna has completed 204 of 267 passes. He has 3,268 passing yards and 56 touchdowns, which are 8-Man records. T. Lohse has 1,182 receiving yards, while White has 663 and Jueneman 636.

Coach Matt Heuer

Reaction to being in the championship game: “The expectations around here are pretty high year in and year out. We lost 14 of 16 starters from last year, so a lot of people thought it might be a rebuilding year (after finishing second in 2014). They never took it to heart; they didn’t want to rebuild. They wanted to maintain success.”

What has gotten you here: “With Will at quarterback, a lot of people talk about his athleticism, and he is extremely athletic. But his leadership and intelligence is what sets him apart from the next person. He makes good decisions, he’s careful with the football, and he puts receivers in situations where they’re able to succeed.”

What will it take to win: “We’ll have to play assignment-sound football. They have an extremely tough running game and enough deception that we have to key exactly on what we need to do on defense. It’s two contrasting styles: passing vs. running. It’s important to get a fast start and take care of the fundamentals like we have through the entire season.”

What fans should know about your team: “I think that our speed and quickness causes some issues for the opposing offense. That’s the strength that we have. We’re not a very big team. We have a lot of small, quick guys, but they surround the ball quickly.”

Spearville

Championships: None. Spearville is playing in its first title game in any boys sport.

Top players: QB-LB Nathan Stein, sr.; RB-DB Luke Heskamp, jr.; C-DE Wyatt Strecker, jr.; RB-DB Brandon Davis, sr.; RB-DB Bailey Sites, so.; DB Clinton Stein, sr.

Key stats: Stein has 750 rushing yards and 682 passing. Heskamp has 1,361 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns. Spearville has outscored teams 658-124.

Coach Matt Fowler

Reaction to being in the championship game: “It’s extremely exciting, extremely rewarding. It’s my seventh year here, and just seeing the program grow, it’s exciting to be a part of something special.”

What has gotten you here: “A lot of hard work, buy in, being committed to the weight room and wanting to go make themselves better each day. It’s taken a few years, but you invest in kids when they’re in junior high and when they’re young. You hope they are able to reach full potential when they are older. We run the same system in junior high.”

What will it take to win: “Execute well. We have zero turnovers on the season.… That’s beyond my expectations, but it’s a fact. Just things like that — not beating ourselves and not having penalties. They are probably, statistically, the best passing team in the history of Kansas 8-Man football. Hopefully we can get pressure on the quarterback and hopefully we can tackle well.”

What fans should know about your team: “We run the unbalanced single wing (offense) like Conway Springs, with all the spinner plays and misdirection. We have multiple guys carry the ball. We try to hide the ball and be physical.… I learned it from (former Conway coach) Lelin George. I got into contact with him and he helped me develop it. I’ve taken some things and made it my own, too.”

8-Man II

Attica-Argonia (12-0) vs. Victoria (12-0), 3:30 p.m. at Fischer Field, Newton

Attica-Argonia

Championships: 1988 (Attica, 8-Man II)

Top players: QB-LB Alec McDaniel, sr.; RB-S Jacob Norris, sr.; DE Devon Newberry, sr.; DE Aaron Harsh, sr.; TE-LB Kolten Koerner, sr.; C-NG Troy Francis, sr.; OL-DL Masen McDaniel, fr.; RB-LB Seth Hemberger, jr.

Key stats: McDaniel has 110 tackles, 800 rushing yards and 26 rushing touchdowns. Newberry has 960 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns. Attica-Argonia lost to Victoria in the 2014 title game.

Co-coach Lance Vandeveer

Reaction to being in the championship game: “Last year this was all new to us. We hadn’t had programs that had been in playoff situations or winning situations. We were loving it and living it week to week. It was quite the ride. Even the state championship was fun, even though we got beat rather handily.… (In the semifinals) against Axtell, they had a potent offense, averaging 200 yards a game. We held them to 45 yards total offense. We’ve got to get that same kind of effort against Victoria.”

What will it take to win: “We’re going to have to be very disciplined. They’re not real fancy. They don’t do all the trickery. They’re a hit-you-in-the-mouth type of team.… We’ll have to play the most physical game we’ve played all year. If we can come down and hit them in the mouth and give them the same kind of ball that they’re used to playing, well, I think we’re athletic enough to do that.”

Co-coach Luke Greenwood

What has gotten you here: “This year it would probably be more of a team effort on both sides of the ball. The defense has just played outstanding, given the offense a short field, and then the offense is getting it in the end zone. We’re splitting it between Alec McDaniel and Devin Newberry, Seth Hemberger and Jacob Norris. We’re run-heavy, but we’re deeper at skill position players than last year.”

What fans should know about your team: “We’re not the biggest team, but we try to play with a lot of physicality. They like to hit and fly to the ball on defense. We’re looking forward to the rematch and hoping that we show up and play a little better game than last year.”

Victoria

Championships: 2014 (8-Man II), 2006 (8-Man II), 2004 (8-Man I), 1988 (2-1A), 1985 (2-1A), 1981 (2-1A)

Top players: QB Brady Dinkel, sr.; FB Parker Riedel, sr.; TE Grant Weber, sr.; DE Eric McAlonan, sr.; OL-NG Wheaton Hockersmith, sr.; OL-LB Bryant Karlin, jr.

Key stats: Riedel leads a balanced offense with 664 rushing. Victoria has 2,543 rushing yards but only given up 597. McAlonan has 76 tackles, five sacks. Karlin has 78 tackes and Weber has four interceptions.

Coach Doug Oberle

Reaction to being in the championship game: “Every time you have this opportunity, it’s unbelievable. I’ve coached some really good teams that didn’t have this opportunity. We have to cherish it.… It’s great for the community, great for the school. I think it brings everyone together. There’s a lot of unity and a lot of school pride, from the little ladies walking down the street telling me congratulations and good luck to the moms and dads.”

What has gotten you here: “We do the little things correctly on both sides of the ball. We try to establish the line of scrimmage on both offense and defense. In our game (Nov. 7) against Minneola, we had six guys carry the ball and no one more than 10 times. We had three guys catch touchdown passes on the game. I think there’s a lot of depth.”

What will it take to win: “The first two or three minutes everyone’s just playing on emotion. The team that settles down first, you have a better chance overall.… We know they’re very motivated and they understand what’s going on. Last year when we played them, we got the early break when the snap goes over the punter’s head and we go back and make a play and get a short field, three yards.”

What fans should know about your team: “I think we block well. I think we get on people. I think we play hard snap to whistle. We may not do everything correct every time, but we do it at a pretty good pace. Our depth is so good. We run kids in and out. We’re a little blue-collar type team.”

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 12:46 PM with the headline "8-Man football championship previews."