By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Despite facing a tough Hillsboro squad on the road last week, the Southeast of Saline football team emerged victorious once more, handing the rival Trojans a 36-8 defeat.
“I really feel like our defense played well in that game,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “Hillsboro has some good kids and our offense was a little sluggish to start but our defense did an outstanding job to hold them to one touchdown.”
With another win, SES is now 6-0, and has an excellent chance to secure a spot atop District 6 with a victory over Halstead tonight.
“It’s very important for us to finish strong here,” Gebhardt said. “We pride ourselves in getting better throughout the season and we need to continue to get better and play at a high level. I feel like our kids can do that, we just need to stay focused on what our goals are.”
Next up for the Trojans is a home test against the Dragons, who despite being 2-4, shocked Class 2A with a big win over Ellsworth last week.
“Before the season began I thought Halstead was going to be very good and that’s what they’re proving right now,” he said. “They did some things that they didn’t want to midseason but they played well last week and beat a good Ellsworth team. They continue to get better and we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
If SES can collect the win this evening, it could set up a winner-take all contest in both the league and the district against Ellsworth next week, but Southeast will need to keep their focus on a frisky Dragon team first this Friday.
“Halstead is big up front,” Gebhardt said. “They always play hard and they’re very physical. We need to take care of the football on offense, play team defense and keep up the good work on special teams.”
Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 in Gypsum, and as always the game can be streamed with live video and commentary on Salina Post (see below), or heard on KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM), with Devin Hanney and Russ Cosell on the call.