Class D-2 State Title Game Preview: Wynot v. Sandhills/Thedford

So, this is what it’s like...

For the first time in school history Wynot Football has reached the state playoff championship game. The Blue Devils have done it by pushing around the bullies on the block, making plays when it matters most, and relying on a strong senior class to fill in the blanks.

No. 2 seed Wynot (12-0) will face No. 8 seed Sandhills/Thedford (11-1) in Monday’s Class D-2 state championship game, kickoff at Memorial Stadium set for 2:45 p.m.

Coming off a 2022 season in which the Blue Devils reached the state quarterfinals they completed a perfect season with some head-turning victories, including those over Humphrey St. Francis, Howells-Dodge and Bloomfield, a triumvirate which can lay claim to 22 state titles and 10 other state finals. That’s a lot.

But that wasn’t enough to derail 2023 Wynot as the Blue Devils won games that went high or went low, holding on for dear life, controlling the contest from start to finish and, finally, winning on the last drive of the game, which was the case in last week’s 22-14 semifinal win over Howells-Dodge. Wynot’s seen some stuff and had the right answer every time.

Wynot opened the playoffs with a 42-0 win over Silver Lake, following up with a 50-20 win over Mullen. Then just like in the regular season the Blue Devils beat Humphrey St. Francis (34-12) and Howells-Dodge (22-14) in consecutive games to reach Monday’s state final.

“Against Howells-Dodge we played well enough to win and made plays when we needed to,” says Wynot head coach Steve Heimes. “They did a great job of ball control and not letting us have the ball, and we made a some mistakes in the game that let them back in the game, but we made up for it by making plays at the end of the game.”

Wynot won the game when senior QB Dylan Heine bolted up the middle of the Howells-Dodge for the game-winning TD with just 11 seconds left in regulation, capping a long, pass-filled drive. Clutch.

“Dylan has done a great job distributing the ball to our athletes on the field on offense,” says Coach Heimes. “Brennan Heimes leads our offensive line and make sure of all our line calls, and defensively Zach Foxhoven has become a great leader making sure everyone is in position and willing to do what ever job is necessary for us to win the game.”

Heine has again posted video game numbers in the passing game, having thrown for 2,042 yards and 25 TDs, with senior Carson Wieseler (58 catches, 720 yards, 6 TDs) and junior Joseph Sudbeck (43 catches, 656 yards, 8 TDs) both prolific receivers. Foxhoven leads a balanced WHS rushing attack with 572 yards and five TDs.

Foxhoven is also an all-state caliber defender, leading the team with 142 tackles, while junior Andrew Haberman is next with 126, and Heine has five interceptions from his safety position.

“Our team is built around our athleticism, depth and competitiveness,” says Coach Heimes. “Our depth has really developed through the season due to injuries but now we have everybody healthy and so our depth has improved tremendously.”

Coach Heimes adds it will need to be all hands on deck as the Blue Devils try to slow a Sandhills/Thedford team that has ripped through the last three rounds of playoff games.

“Sandhills/Thedford has a great team and it all starts with their QB, number five (Tyson Cox), who is a great athlete, runner and defensive player. They also have good size on both sides of the ball. For us to win the game we have to tackle well, take care of the ball and take what their defense gives us.”

* This whole state finals thing is getting to be old hat at Dunning, Thedford, Halsey and assorted other hamlets which are part of the Sandhills/Thedford sporting merger. Monday marks the third time in four years the Knights have played for the state championship, as they finished as Class D-2 runner-up in both 2020 and 2021.

Last week the Knights earned a measure of revenge by closing out previously unbeaten South Loup, 33-18, the Bobcats being the only team to have beaten Sandhills/Thedford this season, though that was so long ago. In the previous weeks the Knights had blistered another pair of top teams, including Lourdes Central Catholic (52-12) and No. 1-seeded Johnson-Brock (60-28). This is a team playing at high tide, especially last week at Thedford.

“To avenge our loss to South Loup from earlier in the season is quite an accomplishment they are a big physical team that has one of the best offense/defensive lines you will ever see in eight-man football,” says Sandhills/Thedford head coach Tyson Cox. “The thing about that game that sticks out the most is how our defense played holding them to 18 points and getting points off of turnovers, which I thought was the difference in the game.”

The victory against South Loup was only the most recent in what has been a dominant playoff run by the Knights.

“This postseason has been special, starting in the first quarter of our first playoff game, at home against Overton. Since then the boys have been determined to finish off our season in Lincoln. We beat a good Lourdes Central Catholic team and I think that is when the boys really thought we have a chance to do something special in the playoffs.

“Then to go on and beat top-seeded Johnson-Brock and then beat the top-rated South Loup team the next week in the semifinals has been a great experience for the boys.”

No doubt. Fueling all this success has been a wide array of talented players, a group led by junior QB Kyle Cox, who was Huskerland’s Class D-2 preseason No. 1-ranked underclassman. An elite and versatile talent, Cox has rushed for 2,414 yards and 49 TDs, caught five eight passes for 184 yards and four TDs, and also passed for 970 yards and 11 TDs. Senior Coby Higgins is the team’s second leading rusher with 549 yards and seven TDs, and he’s also caught 12 passes for 204 yards and two TDs, while junior Carson Cooksley leads the Knights in receptions with 25 for 292 yards and four TDs.

The Sandhills/Thedford defense features a pair of offense wreckers in senior defensive tackle Zeb Wilde (123 tackles, 15 TFL, 9 sacks) and senior linebacker Rhett McFadden (team-best 170 tackles, 11 TFL), while Cox leads the secondary with 102 stops and five interceptions. Wilde is also a returning all-state offensive lineman, helping to anchor that very capable unit.

“The strength of our team is our physical nature in the way we play,” says Coach Cox. “We also have a pretty good offensive and defensive line which plays in well with some athletic kids behind them that like to make plays. The biggest change from the start of the season was getting (junior tight end) Aydyn Hall back from a ACL injury and (sophomore linebacker) Maurice Robinson back from a broken leg. With those two back we can move Kyle around on defense and he can play safety/LB and it hard for the offense if they don’t know where he’s coming from.

“Aydyn and Mo both give us more of a threat in the passing game which is something we really needed early in the season.”

They’ll need it all next Monday, facing a Wynot team that has also knocked off its own string of big-timers, never losing.

“Wynot is going to be another big challenge. They are a very athletic fast teams that can do a lot of different stuff,” says Coach Cox. “They have a good QB (Heine) and multiple guys that they can get the ball too. We need to play tough physical football and create some turnovers on defense. On offense I think we need to keep doing what we have been doing, if we can win the line of scrimmage I think we can have success running the ball which has opened up our passing attack here lately.

“We have played against some really good quarterbacks in the playoffs going against Sloan Pelican and Trey Connell and Dylan Heine is another good one, so we have to be up to the challenge.”

There’s been a lot of great football played at Sandhills/Thedford over the past decade - go ahead, look it up - but Coach Cox says this bunch might be right at the head of the class.

“This group of boys play together as a team as good as any group we’ve had here,” says Coach Cox. “Rhett and Zeb are definitely our vocal team leaders and do a great job. Kyle would be our leader when it comes to making calls, getting guys in the right spot, and if we need a big play we have confidence he’s going to step up and make it for us.”