By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The week eight showdown between Southeast of Saline and Ellsworth has become a staple over the last four years, settling not only the league, but the district and home field for the playoffs.
This year’s meeting between the two is no exception, as the winner will be crowned king of the NCAA and of District 6.
Southeast has dominated this series, having won ten straight against the Bearcats, including a 44-8 rout in the most recent meeting.
If the Trojans can pull out one more regular-season victory, they can also extend their unreal run to an unprecedented six-straight years with a perfect regular season.
Ellsworth has put together another impressive campaign in their own right, and comes into this contest 5-2 with losses to Beloit and Hillsboro.
“Ellsworth plays physical, they run downhill to the football on defense, and they arrive angry,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We have to make sure we do a good job of blocking. Offensively, they do a nice job of running the football and sprinkle in enough pass to keep you on your toes, and they’re always coached well.”
Southeast will also have to overcome the loss of starting quarterback Gannon Jacobson, who will be sidelined for the rest of the year with a season-ending injury.
Despite that loss, Tiernan Ptacek has done an excellent job at quarterback all year, completing 28-40 passes for 552 yards, 7 touchdowns and just two picks, while adding 146 yards and four more scores on the ground.
“Tiernan has done a great job and he’s prepared as well as anyone has,” Gebhardt said. “He’s gotten half the reps in practice all season long and he’s gotten a lot of varsity snaps throughout his career. I feel very comfortable with what he can do.”
On the other side of the matchup, the Trojans will have to find an answer for star running back Tucker Goss, who has been a monster at running back this season, toting the rock 179 times for 1,424 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.
“You have to get a lot of hats to the football, [Goss] is a tough kid to bring down so we need to play team defense and make sure he doesn’t get a head of steam going. We’re not going to completely stop him but we have to slow him down.”
This matchup will feature two of the best backs in the state, as on the other side, Grady Gebhardt has 1,436 scrimmage yards and 27 total touchdowns through seven weeks.
As always, this game will be streamed with live video on Salina Post, and can be heard on KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM).
You can watch the full broadcast of this game on demand any time below.