By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
Heading into week seven of their regular season, the Southeast of Saline football team stands just two wins away from their second consecutive undefeated regular season.
Standing in their way are the two teams the Trojans need to defeat to lock up District Six, and the first of those opponents will pay SES a visit this week in the form of the Smoky Valley Vikings.
“You don’t get to be 4-2 if you’re not a good football team,” Trojan head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “I really feel like we’re going to have to play some excellent football to come away with a win against Smoky Valley.”
The Vikings have hammered the ball down their opponents’ throats this season with a bruising rush attack led by the junior tandem of Justice Autry and Tristan Stambaugh.
That duo has carried the ball 202 times this season for over 1,000 yards rushing and twelve touchdowns.
While one of SES’ best strengths is their run defense, the Trojans haven’t encountered a ground game like this since they faced Beloit, with the Vikings averaging an absurd 5.4 yards-per-carry as a team this year.
Smoky Valley has been excellent defensively as well, holding opponents to under 10 points on average across their four wins.
While the numbers on paper still look impressive, the Vikings began sputtering as they entered district play, dropping two of their first three district games to Colby and Scott City.
While Smoky Valley has tried to regain its footing, SES has only gotten better, outscoring their district opponents 169-0 to open district play a perfect 3-0.
While that would be enough for some programs, the Trojans continue to inspect the details for more areas they can transform from good to great.
“We still aren’t doing a good job of finishing plays and that’s still something we as a team need to work on,” Gebhardt said. “That’s one of the first things we talk about when we watch film and we know that when everybody blocks until the whistle a three or four-yard gain can turn into a twelve or fifteen yard gain.”
SES could lock up the top spot in District Six with a win and a loss from Scott City, who will be on the road to face 2-4 Colby this week.
If not, the Trojans will have to finish the job themselves next week when they travel to Scott City to face the Beavers in the regular-season finale.
Kickoff between the Trojans and Vikings is set for 7pm at Southeast of Saline High School and will be the final home regular-season game of the year.
As always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) courtesy of Eagle Radio.