By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
On a cold October night in 2020, the Salina Central Mustangs fell 68-12 to Wichita Northwest in the opening round of the playoffs, capping off an abysmal 1-8 season.
Some in the Salina community thought that loss may be indicative of things to come, and when Central began their 2021 campaign 1-2, some of those doubts began to look like they may have merit.
Despite the slow start, not a single doubt ever entered the Mustang locker room, and the team got to work ripping off four straight wins, including a 21-14 stunner over then-undefeated Andover Central.
“Winning has always been our mentality here even with the struggles of last season,” Central head coach Mark Sandbo said. “These kids have had a hunger to be on the right side of the scoreboard since day one and I think when we started to do that things really snowballed for us.”
During this winning streak, the Mustangs have outscored their opponents 148-58, and with a win this week over their rival in Salina South, could finish the regular season 6-2, and host a game to open their postseason.
This success hasn’t just come from one or two minor tweaks, nor has it been a result of a complete overhaul of the team gameplan, Central has simply been better in every facet of the game, and the hard work invested in practice has begun to translate to the field.
“We’ve improved in almost every statistical category in the game of football,” Sandbo said. “Field position, turnovers, situational play, all of it. We can stop the run defensively and we’ve done that against some really good running football teams.”
That ability to slow teams on the ground may be the most welcome improvement to Central’s game overall.
In 2020, the Mustangs had allowed over 1,000 yards rushing through their first seven games, this season in the same sample size, the team has allowed under 700.
Central’s offense has looked much better as well, thanks to the renewed mobility of senior quarterback Parker Kavanagh.
“The biggest change in our offensive identity has come in our ability to run the quarterback,” Sandbo said. “I think the first few weeks we were apprehensive and we weren’t running him like we should have but it’s really opened up the rest of our offense.”
In addition to over 1,000 yards passing and 13 touchdowns to only 4 picks this season, Kavanagh has carried the ball a team-leading 83 times for just shy of 500 yards and three touchdowns.
That has opened up the run game for the thunder and lightning duo of Kenyon McMillan and Micah Moore, who have combined for over 1,000 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns on the ground this season.
All of this has culminated in a Mustang team that is balanced on offense, ruthless on defense, and loaded from top to bottom with talented veteran leaders who have kept the team going all season long.
“The energy has always been good but winning solves a lot of problems,” he said. “Our kids are hungry to win and when you have 19 seniors you expect the locker room to always be positive and that’s been the case. We hang our hat on those kids on Friday nights and they’ve absolutely rung that bell.”
The Mustangs will have one final regular season contest this Friday as they battle for the Mayor’s Cup with their cross-town rivals in Salina South.
For more on that game and for continuing coverage of Salina Central football throughout the postseason, stay tuned to the Salina Post.