By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline Trojans will face their toughest task yet as they hit the road in a clash of undefeateds with the Colby Eagles tonight.
Both teams have a lot riding on this game in an effort to remain undefeated and to gain a foothold in district play.
Colby has outscored opponents 87-22 this year, with wins over Hugoton, Cimarron, Ulysses and Smoky Valley.
More impressively, they have accomplished this without a majority of their offensive line due to Covid-19.
Those missing pieces will be back in action this week, but may not be completely up to the speed that head coach Rees McKinney would like.
“They’re not in game shape anymore,” he said. “We were getting them there before we lost them for two weeks and now we’re starting all over to get them ready to compete.”
While coach McKinney is mildly concerned about his O-Line, SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt knows that ready or not, Colby will present a challenge this week.
“I feel like their experience is in good shape,” he said. “They’re gonna be excited to play in this game and I have no doubt that we’re gonna get the best of what Colby has to throw at us.”
Offensively, the Eagles have relied on H-Back Hagan Booi, who has been averaging over five yards per carry this season.
Shutting down a good back will be Southeast’s focus for a fourth straight week, but it’s something they have done an excellent job of in 2020.
Beloit’s Benson Berndt, Ellsworth’s Luke Sharp and Russell’s Tyler Moresco were all held to less than half of their season average on the ground in SES’s last three games.
Colby’s success has also been built off of senior leadership, which really impressed coach McKinney this preseason.
“We have great senior leadership,” he said. “Our guys worked all summer in a situation where we didn’t even know if we were gonna get to play.
“If there was ever an excuse to not work hard they had it but instead they stepped up and went to the weight room and that’s really carried over into the season,” he said.
For the Trojans this will also be their longest road trip of the season as they will head to the westernmost part of the state. A factor that has had very little effect on the team this week.
“I really feel like we have a good vibe in the locker room,” Gebhardt said. “We’ve played some good teams so far but we’re really excited to see what we can do against a 4-0 team.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7pm in Colby. As always, Eagle Radio is the home for Trojan football and games can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed live on Salina Post.