By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Russell Broncos had a magical 2025 season, posting seven wins for the first time since 2003, and winning their first playoff game in 46 years.
Fresh off that postseason win, Cinderella rolled into Gypsum and took the lead on the opening drive when Trey Zorn hit Sam Thielen over the middle for a 37-yard touchdown to put the Broncos ahead of the defending state champs.
Before any glass slippers could be fitted, however, the clock quickly, and loudly struck midnight, and the Southeast of Saline Trojans advanced to the state quarterfinals by a final score of 44-12.
Grady Gebhardt took the opening handoff 65 yards to the house to give Southeast the lead, and the Trojans never looked back, outscoring the Broncos 44-6 down the stretch.
On their ensuing drive, Russell would enter the Trojan red zone, but was turned away on downs following back-to-back sacks for Kanyon Douglas and Brody Chambers.
Tiernan Ptacek added two rushing touchdowns to extend the lead to 22-6, and the Trojan defense again stood tall at the goal line, turning Russell over on downs with their backs against the wall at the two.
The two teams traded touchdowns to bring the score to 30-12 at halftime, but in the third quarter, the Trojans picked right up where they left off as Gebhardt completed his weekly hat trick with a 13-yard rushing score.
Desperately needing a touchdown and inside the red zone, the Broncos again went for it on fourth down, but the Southeast defense stood up Zorn behind the sticks to force a third critical turnover on downs.
“They got inside the 20 twice and our boys stood tall and didn’t let them score,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We haven’t had a whole lot of that happen this season, and it was good for our guys to do that. That’s probably the most yards we’ve given up all year, but when they had to they made plays.”
Grady added a fourth rushing touchdown to put the icing on the cake of a dominant 44-12 second-round win.
Gebhardt again led the charge, toting the rock 25 times for a staggering 341 yards and four scores.
Ptacek looked solid at quarterback again, completing 6-12 for 52 yards without a single interception while adding 10 carries, 65 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
The Trojans will square off with Phillipsburg in the state quarterfinals. The Panthers thrashed Minneapolis and Haven in the first two rounds of their playoff run.
You can watch our full broadcast of this game anytime on demand below.