🏈 Southeast scores 37 unanswered to secure sixth-straight district title

By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post

It’s hard to put into words just how dominant the Southeast of Saline football program has been over the last six seasons, but a few numbers do help put things in perspective.

Following a 53-12 beatdown of the Ellsworth Bearcats on Friday night, the Trojans have now won six-straight outright league titles and six-straight district titles.

Perhaps more impressively, within that six-season span, Southeast has never suffered a regular-season defeat, extending that win streak to 48 games, a streak that will stand for a minimum of 2,513 days.

It wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Trojans on Friday. A slow start kept the Bearcats in it early, but 37 unanswered points to close the contest put things firmly out of reach down the stretch.

“We didn’t do a good job of executing in the first half and we didn’t make any changes in the second half,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We just did a better job of doing the things that we wanted to do.”

One player that didn’t get off to a slow start was senior tailback Grady Gebhardt, who took the opening handoff 55 yards to the house to put the Trojans on top 8-0.

Another Gebhardt score on the ensuing drive made it 16-0, but Ellsworth would tighten up on both sides of the ball to make it 16-6 at halftime.

Before the Trojans could implement their halftime adjustments, a fumble on their first drive of the third quarter gave Ellsworth the football with a short field, and the Bearcats capitalized, scoring to cut the lead to four.

That would be the last positive play of the night for Ellsworth.

Two more Gebhardt rushing touchdowns, a pair of scores for Amarion Holub, a touchdown connection from Tiernan Ptacek to Bryson Lippold, and two critical turnovers turned a tight game into a Trojan rout as Southeast cruised to a 53-12 victory.

The veterans shone brightly on senior night, led by Grady Gebhardt, who turned 20 carries into 234 yards and four touchdowns.

Not to be outdone, Amarion Holub converted four opportunities into 109 yards and two scores, adding a defensive interception to his big day.

Seemingly every single one of Southeast’s 16 seniors contributed to this win in a meaningful way, and will be needed down the stretch as the Trojans enter the postseason.

“Time is what’s helped to build this,” Gebhardt said. “It’s great people at Southeast of Saline, it’s great teachers, it’s great administration, it’s great families. All of those things help us grow our program. To have 16 seniors is a big deal, these kids have been in our program for four years and they’ve done so many great things for us.”

The Trojans, now 8-0 will host Southwestern Heights (2-6) in the playoff opener.

Ellsworth, now 5-3 will have to travel to Hillsboro (5-3) for a rematch against another Trojan foe.

You can watch the full broadcast of this game on demand any time below.