Victoria Reloads After Consecutive State Runner-Up Finishes
The Victoria Knights have won seven state Football championships in the history of their program. For the last two years, attempts to add to that collection have come up one game short.
In 2024, Victoria rolled through an undefeated regular season then steamrolled their way through the playoffs, capping it off with a dominating road win at Dighton in the Sub-State championship game. However, the Knights ran into powerhouse Axtell which defeated Victoria in the 8-Man Division ll title game 50-0, behind Quarterback Brandon Schmelzle who is now a redshirt freshman defensive back at KU. The shutout was the first that Victoria had endured since 2011.
In 2025, Victoria turned in another perfect regular season and took down a powerful Hutchinson Central Christian team in the Sectional game before holding off district rival Hodgeman County on a rainy night in Victoria to punch another ticket to state. This time, the opponent was Hanover, which ended Axtell's 8-Man state-record 58-game winning streak earlier in the season and knocked them off again in the sub-state title game. On a cold Saturday night in Greensburg, Hanover scored late to defeat Victoria 28-20.
Head Coach Doug Oberle, now in his 21st season as head coach of the Knights and in his 24th season overall, looked back on the Hanover game and what might have been for the Knights.
One of the key players for Victoria which hasn't lost a game in the regular season since the 2023 opener was Kyle Huser who anchored the line at center and nose guard for four years. Oberle talks about how important he was to the team and about the player who will take his spot to open the 2026 season.
Victoria will open the 2026 campaign with slightly lower numbers than usual but the Knights are still expected to contend once again for a state title. They will play their first game on Friday, September 4 against league rival Central Plains, whom they have defeated seven straight times including last year's 22-20 thriller in Claflin. Kickoff has been moved back to 8 p.m. due to the intense heat and the game will kickoff season number four of the KZRS Area Game of the week on 107.9 FM, streaming on KRSL.com and on Alexa devices.