By DEVIN HANNEY
Sports Director - Salina Post
For Week 7, Southeast of Saline hit the road to renew a rivalry with an old friend, the Riley County Falcons. The Trojans and Falcons have not seen each other on the football field since 2019.
The Trojans battled to the final whistle, but the Riley County defense held out, preserving a tight 21-20 victory.
SES started with the football and took the opening drive down the field 87 yards to take an early lead. Leighton Nutsch scored on a 48-yard touchdown run, and a 2-point conversion run by Tysen Keller made it 8-0.
Riley County answered on its opening offensive drive. Senior quarterback Kadrick Woodard hit Evan Widman for a 21-yard touchdown pass.
On the next drive, Southeast of Saline took it down the field, threatening to score again. However, the threat ended with the Trojans unable to score, turning the ball over on downs at the Riley County 2-yard line.
The Falcons failed to put a drive together, turning it over on downs at the SES 29-yard line with 4:15 remaining in the second quarter. The Trojans took advantage of the opportunity, scoring on an 18-yard pass from Tiernan Ptacek to Casson Klover with just 30 seconds left in the half.
Riley County had the first possession of the second half and pulled even on the opening drive when Woodard scored on a 57-yard touchdown run. The PAT kick tied the game 14-14.
SES would have another answer with 35 seconds left in the third quarter via a familiar connection: Ptacek to Klover for 44 yards in the air. The 2-point conversion failed, and the Trojans led by six, 20-14.
Wasting no time, Riley County's quarterback shot back with a 55-yard touchdown run to tie the game. The PAT kick put the Falcons ahead 21-20 for their first lead of the night. That's all they needed, holding SES out of scoring position for the remaining 11:02 of the game.
Southeast of Saline drops to 4-3 and will return home for Senior Night against Minneapolis on Friday, Oct. 23.