By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline football team has aced every test they have received this season, and on Friday night, they’ll hit the road for one more as the Trojans travel to Ellsworth to battle the Bearcats.
Once again, this matchup has extremely high stakes, with sole possession of a league title, a district title, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs on the table for SES.
“This is a big game, and it has been for the last several years when we’ve played Ellsworth,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We know it’s going to be a battle and we’d sure like a league title, a district title, and a chance to play as many home games in the playoffs as we can but we’re preparing the way we normally do, we still want to go 1-0 this week.”
The Trojans enter this contest at 7-0 after dispatching Halstead 38-15 last week, while the Bearcats come in at 5-2, looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
“These have been big-time league games and this is an even bigger one with a district championship on the line,” Ellsworth head coach Josh Homolka said. “We’re going to put our best foot forward, Southeast is a really good football team and we’ll have our hands full but there’s a lot of motivation going into the last game of the season.”
Historically, Southeast has dominated this series, with Mitch Gebhardt winning each of the last nine contests dating back to 2010, most recently in a 30-0 shutout last season against a Bearcat team that made a run to the 2A quarterfinals.
Despite that precedent, Coach Gebhardt and his Trojans understand the importance of this matchup, and have a ton of respect for the Bearcats lining up across from them tonight.
“Ellsworth flys to the football defensively, and they play physical and run downhill,” Gebhardt said. “Offensively they don’t throw as much as they have in the past but they do a good job in the run game and they throw it just enough to keep you off guard.”
Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 in Ellsworth, and as always the game can be streamed with live video and commentary on Salina Post by clicking HERE, or heard on KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM), with Devin Hanney and Russ Cossel on the call.