By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Entering the 2023 football season, the Salina Central Mustangs looked poised to make another deep playoff run behind one of the most electric offenses in the state.
As the opening round of the playoffs approaches, that narrative has held true, and the Mustangs will enter the bracket at 6-2, with the top offense in Class 5A (480 yds/g).
The fact that Central has accomplished this in and of itself, is unremarkable.
How they’ve done it, is nothing short of astounding.
In their week one matchup with Salina South, quarterback Gunnar Gross reminded everyone why he was one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the state of Kansas, completing each of his first three passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns, adding two carries for 21 yards.
Less than ten snaps into the game, Gross was averaging 27 yards per play.
Then, disaster struck.
On just the third series of the opening quarter, Gross took an awkward tackle that broke his leg in three places, ending his season.
“I knew it was serious immediately,” Mustang head coach Mark Sandbo said. “It felt like I was watching that tackle in slow motion and we knew right away that we were probably going to be without him for weeks to come. He’s such a tough kid and you could see he wanted to get back up but he couldn’t put any pressure on it.”
Watching that play from the sideline was defensive back Jack Gordon, who had taken no more than five snaps a practice at quarterback, but now found himself thrust into the driver's seat of this Central offense.
“I never really thought about being put in a position like this,” Gordon said. “My focus was on defense. I was sitting on the bench when it all happened and as soon as I got on the field and saw him my heart dropped. I thought I’d be a lot more nervous than I was but the guys and the coaches were really behind me.”
So how did the junior handle being thrust into the spotlight?
Try 17-26 for 193 yards, two touchdowns, and only one interception, leading the Mustangs to a convincing 54-28 victory over their biggest rival.
“There was never really an ‘oh no’ moment with the kids,” Sandbo said. “I didn’t see a change in the guys at all. They rallied around Jack and they had as much confidence in him as we did. He’s a confident multi-sport athlete and he was ready to go right away.”
After a week-two loss at the hands of Eisenhower, many around the state questioned if this team was capable of meeting their lofty preseason expectations, but nobody in the Mustang locker room so much as blinked, and the following week, Central was back on the warpath with a 46-13 win over Emporia.
Going into the opening round of the playoffs, Gordon has completed 61% of his passes for over 2,000 yards and has tossed 23 touchdowns to just six picks.
His offense ranks first in Class 5A in yards (480), fourth in passing (270), and sixth in scoring (39), but if you ask Coach Sandbo, he hasn’t exceeded expectations, he’s simply met them.
“Jack’s confidence is a big part of his leadership,” he said. “I wouldn’t say he’s exceeded expectations because we expected a lot out of him. There are a lot of programs not only at our level but around the state that would love to have Jack playing quarterback for them.”
While Gordon has gotten the job done on the field, there’s another unsung hero in this story that has likely gone unnoticed to many in the Central community.
If you look for Gunnar Gross on a Friday night, you won’t find him sulking on the bench, or even standing in line with the rest of his teammates, you may even mistake him for the youngest member of the Central coaching staff.
“Gunnar has been on the sidelines talking me through things that he sees in games and in practice,” Gordon said. “He’s helped me with a lot of things to get settled in and he’s always been a positive leader on this team. As soon as he couldn’t help us on the field he started coaching us up.”
That level of leadership inspired enough confidence from Coach Sandbo and his crew to get Gunnar his own headset on Friday nights, and the senior's insight has helped continue to push this offense from great to elite.
“It’s not surprising that Gunnar has taken on this type of mentorship role, that’s just the kind of kid he is,” Sandbo said. “He’s a fantastic leader, one of the hardest workers on the field, and a real coach within our program both on the field when he was playing and off the field now.”
The Mustangs will open postseason play on Friday, October 27th when they play host to the Great Bend Wildcats at Salina Stadium at 7:00.