By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After facing down a gauntlet of a 2022 schedule while being terrorized by the injury bug for eight weeks, the Salina South Cougars will travel to Maize on Friday looking to upset the only undefeated program in Class 5A.
The Eagles hosted the Cougars once already this season in a 56-7 win that was more of a battle than it looked on paper, especially before the intermission.
“Obviously they’re a very talented team with some very high-profile players but I was pleased with how our kids came out and competed, especially in the first half,” South head coach Sam Sellers said. “We made them work for everything they got defensively and put together a nice drive for a score in the second quarter.”
If ever there were a David and Goliath matchup on paper, this would be it.
The Eagles boast the second-best scoring offense (54.4 ppg) and second-best total offense (495 yds/g) in Class 5A and feasted against the Cougar's defensive unit in the second half of their first meeting.
Much of that damage has been done this season by senior signal caller Avery Johnson, who has completed 69% of his passes for over 1,800 yards and 20 touchdowns, tossing just one pick and adding 550 more yards and 11 more scores in the run game.
“I don’t think Avery Johnson is a very big secret to anyone,” Sellers said. “He is incredibly talented both with his arm and his legs but what impresses me most about him is his improvement from year to year. It’s very evident he’s not satisfied with being just a talented football player or a kid with a lot of D1 offers, he has the drive to be the best.”
To slow this Johnson-led offense, the South defense will need to put together the best performance of their campaign after allowing over 50 points per contest through the regular season.
We just need to be incredibly sound,” he said “We want to make them take as many snaps as possible on every drive. We can’t have a breakdown that leads to an easy touchdown. It’s tough for any high school team, regardless of talent, to put together 8-12 play drives consistently.”
On offense, Salina South will look to carry over the momentum of a 27-point performance in week eight, against an Eagle defense that ranks 4th in total defense.
“We’ve got to do a better job running the ball and in pass protection than we did in our first match-up,” Sellers said. “The key to our overall success is in keeping our offense on the field as long as possible. It gives us more opportunities to score points and more importantly keeps their offense off the field.”
The Cougars also benefit from having seen Maize once this year already and know exactly the level of talent to expect when the two face off this Friday night.
“I think the fact that we’ve already played them helps a lot,” Sellers said. “We know Maize is a good team and we respect them, but the fact we’ve already been on the field with them helps a ton. We’re going to go out and play our game with great effort and see what happens when the dust settles.”
Kickoff between the Cougars and Eagles is set for 7 pm at Maize High School with the winner advancing to take on 5-3 Goddard or 4-4 Kapaun Mt. Carmel in the round of 16 next week