By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Many heads in the area turned at the halftime score in Gypsum this week, which saw the #1 team in Class 2A ahead of 1-4 Hillsboro by just ten points.
By the sound of the final whistle, Southeast of Saline had outscored the visiting Trojans 30-0 in the second half to take a comfortable 46-6 victory.
“We talked to the kids about putting the work in early in a game,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “I didn’t feel like we were doing a lot of the little things that we normally do in the first and second quarter that would have eliminated some of the work that we’ve had to do later on.”
The lone Achilles heel for an otherwise explosive Southeast of Saline offense has come in the form of turnovers this year, and that was on full display in the first half against Hillsboro.
After scoring to go up 8-0 on their opening drive, SES fumbled away the ball three times in the next 20 minutes of play, twice giving a district opponent the ball in their own red zone.
Despite these miscues, the Trojan defense stood tall time after time, proving itself as one of the best units in the state even under immense pressure.
“As a defensive unit we’re playing pretty good,” Gebhardt said. “The guys on the front have done a great job and we put a lot of pressure on opposing offenses to limit what they can do.”
By the end of the contest, the SES defense had held Hillsboro to less than 100 yards of total offense, sacking the Trojans six times for -54 yards.
After the break, the Southeast offense roared to life, wearing down the Hillsboro front with over 200 second-half rushing yards and just shy of another 150 through the air.
Nate Friesen and Luke Gebhardt each finished the game with 120+ yards on the ground with the Southeast signal-caller finding paydirt four times himself.
“Our backs are getting better at seeing holes and exploding through those,” Gebhardt said. “Nathan is getting better every single game at finishing runs strong but those guys don’t make any yards if the guys in front of them aren’t blocking well and creating lanes and they’ve done a great job of that.”
The final box score tells a tale of dominance, with SES outgaining their opponent by 40 points on the scoreboard and by over 400 yards of total offense, but the Trojans will need to avoid first-half lapses like this if they hope to hoist a 2A trophy in November.
The Trojans will hit the road for a final regular-season away game against 0-6 Lyons before returning home to finish the regular season against the undefeated #5 Ellsworth Bearcats.