By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The 2A state title defense for Southeast of Saline started with a bang in week one as the Trojans hung 60 points on Minneapolis, pulling the starters at halftime in a 60-21 rout.
Week two will not be so simple, however, as SES prepares to defend its brand new home turf from an NCKL foe in Clay Center, and a Tiger team that’s been the biggest threat to Southeast’s undefeated regular season streak over the last several seasons.
Despite the challenge and a battle with a 3A opponent that always gives SES a run for their money, the Trojans are excited to play the type of team they may very well encounter again in this year’s 2A playoff.
“Games like these are outstanding for us,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “Clay Center is always physical, they’re always tough, they’re well coached, and if you do something wrong, they’re going to make you pay for that. This game has been big for us over the years and I’m sure it will be again this Friday.”
Last year, Southeast was able to outlast Clay Center in a 22-20 nailbiter that would go down as the only regular-season win for SES by 18 or fewer.
The Trojans have won the last three in the series, collecting victories of 22-17 in 2023 and 26-14 in 2022.
Regular season or otherwise, Clay Center has consistently been one of the few teams capable of handling the bruising style of Southeast on both sides of the ball, which should make for another fun matchup tonight.
“They’re physical again,” Gebhardt said. “Every time we get a film on them year after year that’s the takeaway. Their coaching staff is great and their kids run the football well every year.”
For SES to maintain the state’s longest active regular-season winning streak, they’ll need to tackle the fundamentals in front of what’s sure to be a ruckus crowd on the brand new turf.
“We need to take care of the football and eliminate penalties this week,” he said. “If we can play good team defense and keep the football out of their hands we feel we can do well against Clay Center.”
Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 with pregame coverage to begin at 6:40 on KINA. As always, this game will also be streamed with live video and broadcast commentary on Salina Post.