By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
With an emphatic 55-13 victory over the Salina South Cougars, Salina Central has claimed Mayor’s Cup bragging rights for a fourth-consecutive season.
It wasn’t always pretty, but when it mattered most, the Mustangs got the job done.
This marks the first time since 1994-1997 that a class at Central has failed to relinquish the cup for four straight years, and the Mustangs did it in style by a combined score of 210-83.
South looked sharp early on under new head coach Christien Ozores, drawing first blood on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Landon Putman to Jaxon Myers.
The Mustangs would even the score on a Jack Gordon run, but South came right back, opening the second-quarter scoring with a rushing touchdown of their own from Aiden Anderes.
Down 13-7, Central tightened the screws and never looked back, scoring 48 unanswered points en route to a 55-13 rout.
Much of that damage was done through the air, where Jack Gordon found Isaiah White, Noah Peck, Bodie Rodriguez and Tyrus Young for a touchdown each.
In the waning minutes, the Mustangs also flexed the depth of their ground game, with long touchdown runs for both Cooper Reves and backup quarterback Griffin Hall.
Despite dropping the rivalry contest, both quarterback Landon Putman and receiver Jaxon Myers looked excellent on Friday night, and the Cougars showed real promise of brighter days ahead.
Meanwhile, the Mustangs showed that despite losing their top four receivers and feature back to graduation, the Central offense still holds explosive potential, and the defensive front is still a force to be reckoned with.
Both teams will need to cut down on penalties considerably to unlock their full potential, especially holds and unsportsmanlike conduct fouls which severely hampered both sides this week.
The Mustangs will travel to Ark City next Friday while the Cougars stay in Salina to host Maize South.
You can watch our full broadcast of the Mayor’s Cup on-demand below.