By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Week one of the Kansas high school playoff season is in the books, with a lot of great playoff action happening across the state.
For our seven local area schools that qualified for postseason play, two will be moving on next week, while the other five met the end of the road tonight.
Here is a quick look at those seven games and how they shook out.
Salina Central 12, Wichita Northwest 68
It was always going to be an uphill climb for the Mustangs, facing the undefeated number one team in 5A. Central fought valiantly but the strength of the Grizzlies proved too much to handle as the Mustangs season came to an end.
Salina Central will finish their season 1-8 while Wichita Northwest will advance to play Wichita Heights, who defeated Andover 28-22 on Friday.
Salina South 0, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 74
Following the Mayor’s Cup victory over Salina Central last week, the Cougars had a lot of positive momentum heading into this week's game against the Kapaun Mt. Carmel. That momentum was short lived however, as Salina South was routed by the Crusaders.
Salina South will finish their season 2-6, while Kapaun Mt. Carmel will advance to play Goddard, who squeaked out a win against Goddard-Eisenhower 28-26.
Abilene 14, McPherson 78
The odds were not with the Abilene Cowboys this postseason, as the team entered the playoffs winless and facing a 7-1 McPherson team that was ranked number four in 4A. Abilene scored 14 points, two more than they had all season, but it was well short of what they needed as the Bulldogs cruised to a victory.
Abilene finishes 0-6 to complete what is now back-to-back winless seasons. McPherson meanwhile, will advance to play an Augusta team that they beat 32-14 just two weeks ago. Augusta defeated Ulysses 50-8 to move on.
Southeast of Saline 56, Clay Center 8
The first of the local area schools to move on, Southeast of Saline remains undefeated at 8-0 with a huge victory over Clay Center. The Trojans dominated, holding the Tigers to under 30 yards of total offense in the second half.
Clay Center will finish its season at 4-5 while SES will advance to play Marysville, who knocked off Colby 45-21 this week.
Ell-Saline 50, Elkhart 20
Ell-Saline became the second and only other school to advance this week with a great win over the Elkhart Wildcats. The Cardinals wanted to pick on this young Elkhart defense and did just that, cruising to a 30 point victory.
Elkhart finishes their year 2-7 while Ell-Saline will face a Smith Center team fresh off a bye next week.
Sacred Heart 16, Whitewater-Remington 56
After dropping back-to-back games, Sacred Heart couldn’t right the ship in time, falling to Remington in a 40-point beating on Friday night. The Knights had faced challenges of many kinds throughout the 2020 season, and ultimately couldn’t overcome these in the postseason.
Sacred Heart wraps up their 2020 season at 2-7, while Remington will advance to play Inman fresh off a 61-0 smacking of Stanton County.
Bennington 0, Clifton-Clyde 46
Entering the playoffs at 2-6 and facing a 6-1 Clifton-Clyde team that was ranked number four in 8-Man Division I, Bennington needed everything to go right to pull off an upset this week. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as the Eagles proved too much to handle on both sides of the ball.
Bennington ends their season 2-7, while Clifton-Clyde will face Little River (who they beat in OT earlier this year), fresh off a 56-0 win over Washington County.