By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
A phenomenal 2022 season for Salina Central met an unfortunate end on Friday at the hands of the Hays Indians, who knocked off the Mustangs 49-12 to advance to this year’s 5A semifinals.
Central’s campaign comes to a close at 8-3, as the first eight-win season in over 15 years for a resurgent Mustang program.
“We knew this was going to be a difficult matchup,” Mustang head coach Mark Sandbo said. “Hays checks all the boxes, they’re explosive on offense, their backfield makes big plays in space and defensively they’re really good in the box and athletic in the secondary. We had opportunities to make big plays but we couldn’t capitalize.”
Hays is a handful under the best of circumstances, but after losing star running back Kenyon McMillan on the first drive of the game, a hobbled Mustang offense struggled to match pace with the third-ranked team in Class 5A.
Despite falling in this year’s quarterfinal round, Salina Central made serious progress this season, securing a win in November and continuing to bring the maroon and white outfit back into the 5A spotlight.
“Any time you take a step forward as a program you reflect on it positively,” Sandbo said. “It’ll take some time for this to all sink in and we didn’t have a big senior group but the ones that we did have really helped us to continue moving forward within our program.”
This year’s Mustang offense was electric, and as the season progressed the defense began to follow suit.
Much of that success came on the backs of a small, but crucial group of senior leaders, who have laid the groundwork for even bigger things to come.
“Our seniors set another standard,” he said. “Our expectation is to win in November and we did that this year. We had some guys who really showed out on Friday nights and the next step is winning a game like the one we just played. Rome wasn’t built in a day but we’re awfully proud of what we’re building at Salina Central right now.”
This offseason the Mustangs will say goodbye to ten seniors in Kenyon McMillan, J’Marie Bobo, Mason Clark, Trevon Cole, Talan Gary, Dawson Hogan, Kaleb Marshall, Caleb Moncada, Avery Richardson, and Hunter Swolensky, but will return a great deal of talent, including junior quarterback Gunnar Gross for the 2023 campaign.
“We return some really good pieces,” Sandbo said. “We're going to have to develop some guys and strength and conditioning will play a big role in the offseason. We’ll need some guys to take a step up but we’re confident that Salina Central football is going to be awfully exciting for the next four or five years.”
The Salina Post would like to thank everyone who followed along with us throughout our coverage of Salina Central football this season.
For more great Mustang content including coverage of Central boys and girls basketball, stay tuned to the Salina Post.