By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
In week five, the Abilene Cowboys hit a bit of a roadblock in their quest for four wins, falling to the Rose Hill Rockets on their own home field by less than a touchdown.
Of their four losses in 2022, that was the one that stung the most, in a sloppy, out-of-character performance by a resurgent Cowboy team hungry to reassert themselves in Class 4A.
In a twist of fate, Abilene won’t have to wait long for a chance to avenge that loss as the Cowboys find themselves staring down Rose Hill in week nine with a ticket to the round of 16 on the line.
“Rose Hill is a very good football team,” Abilene head coach Brad Nicks said. “They have a good defense and they’re very physical with a lot of talent. Our kids do feel like that was a game that we should have won though, we squandered a few opportunities and had way too many penalties.”
Despite sputtering a bit against a gauntlet of a back-half schedule, the Cowboys will play this game at home, hosting a postseason matchup for just the second time in the last decade.
“Hosting in week nine is a really big deal to our kids and they’re excited,” Nicks said. “We found out while we were still in Wamego and you would have thought that we had won the game. This was one of our big goals for the year and to be here now is something special.”
To advance to the second round for the first time since 2015, the Cowboys will need to look sharp on offense and lean on a passing game that ranks seventh in 4A averaging 196 air yards per game.
Focusing on winning downs will be critical for the Cowboy attack as well, as Abilene has done some of its best work this season in short-down situations.
“Offensively I think we just need to get comfortable and stay on our pace,” Nicks said. “We need to be looking at second and five or second and six to avoid getting behind the sticks. “If we can be patient and stick to the game plan we like our chances.”
On the other side of the ball cleaning up the penalties will go a long way against the worst total (192 yds/g) and second-worst scoring (13.3 PPG) offense in Class 4A.
While that midseason loss would linger in the minds of other teams, the Cowboys have put it behind them, and expect a much different contest in the friendly confines of Abilene this Friday.
“We’ve continued to mature throughout the year and we’re older than we have been but we have a lot of underclassmen playing and juniors who haven’t seen a lot of time,” he said. “Every week they continue to grow and I think this is a different team than the one that faced Rose Hill in week five.”
Hot on the heels of three winless seasons, the Cowboys have done the unthinkable and secured a home playoff game for week nine. Next on their checklist is achieving the team’s first playoff win since 2015, something that occupies 100% of the focus in the Abilene locker room this week.
“We are focused on this game and this game only,” Nicks said. “Our next opponent could be the Chiefs, we don’t care. These kids are focused on this week and what we can do against Rose Hill. They have an opportunity to leave their mark on this season and on this program and we realize that if we don’t win this week nothing else matters.”
Kickoff between the Cowboys and Rockets is set for 7 pm at Abilene high school with the winner advancing to take on 8-0 Wamego or 1-7 Ulysses in the round of 16 next week.