By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After an impressive 7-3 2019 season at the 2A level, the Southeast of Saline Trojans, led by 11th year head coach Mitch Gebhardt, will return to 3A play.
While the competition will be steeper for SES this year, the team is very much up to the task. They’re bringing back an electric QB-RB duo, all starting linemen on both sides of the ball, and several key players on defense.
“I feel like we’re ahead of where we have been because of the experience we have,” Gebhardt said. “These guys understand the speed that you have to play at to do well on friday nights.”
Arguably the biggest returner is senior quarterback/safety Jaxson Gebhardt, who added 21 touchdowns and over 2,000 yards of total offense to seven interceptions nabbed on defense.
“He’s a playmaker,” Gebhardt said. “He’s good with the ball in his hands but when things break down he makes good decisions, whether that’s taking something that he sees or throwing the ball away.”
Jaxson will not be the lone returner in the Trojan backfield this year as senior Bryant Banks reprises his role as the SES bell-cow back.
Banks, who came up just shy of a 1,000 yards rushing in 2019, will remain a focus of opposing defenses, who will look to keep him from another 20 touchdown season on the ground.
“Bryant’s still a big bruising back,” Gebhardt said. “If you can’t take care of him, we’re gonna keep giving him the ball and you’re gonna have a long night on defense.”
One group that SES should see take a big step up this season is the offensive line, which returns seniors Logan Sanders and Sterling Harp alongside juniors Braxton Blake, Dalton Bunch and Dawson Adams.
In addition to being a year older, the offensive line has packed on some serious size in the offseason, and should be a force to be reckoned with in 2020.
While the Trojans graduated senior wideouts Raef Boley and Seth Eklund, who caught over half of SES’s touchdown passes in 2019, there is plenty of depth to take their place.
A rotation of five to six receivers, featuring Tyler Breeding, Eli Harris and Chase Poague, will hopefully lead the Trojans into a passing renaissance, and allow Jaxson Gebhardt to show off his arm.
On the defensive side, Southeast returns 10 of its 11 leading tacklers from 2019, including linebacker Matthew Rodriguez, who collected just shy of 100 tackles to lead the team in 2019. Rodriguez also picked up an all-state honorable mention in just his sophomore season.
Joining Rodriguez to round out the linebackers will be a trio of seniors featuring Bryant Banks, Eli Harris and Tyler Breeding, an experienced group more than capable of running the defense.
The defensive front will look similar to last year as well, as familiar faces like Sterling Harp, Dawson Adams and Dalton Bunch will be testing the strength of opponents in the trenches.
Where SES will be making a few changes this year is on the corners. When the season kicks off on Friday the sidelines will be patrolled by speedsters Eddie McVay and Michael Murray.
Southeast of Saline was originally scheduled to play their season opener in Minneapolis, but with the new field still not ready for football, the Trojans have been gifted an extra home game.
After hosting the Lions on Friday, the Trojans will remain at home for meetings with league rivals Beloit and Ellsworth before their first road game against Russell on September 25th.