By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline Trojans (8-0) emerged victorious over the Ellsworth Bearcats (7-1) on Friday, with a convincing 30-0 win.
For a regular season game, this one had a lot on the line, and the Trojans departed Ellsworth with a pile of riches that included a fourth-straight undefeated regular season, a fourth-straight district title, a sixth-straighth league title, and perhaps most importantly, a 1-seed in the 2A playoffs.
The Trojan offense wasn’t as efficient as they have been in the past at scoring the football, as this game was an 8-0 nailbiter at halftime, but it’s hard to lose when you don’t give up any points, and for the second time this year, SES pitched a shutout.
That goose egg on the board was made all the more impressive against a Bearcat offense that averaged 34 points per game coming into this contest.
“Ellsworth is a good football team and I was proud of our defense tonight. Whatever they threw at us that group did a great job of countering it and I’m awful proud of the way they played tonight.”
The Trojan defense also held Ellsworth in check on total yardage, where a Bearcat offense that avereges 338 yards a contest was held to just over 100 on the day.
Offensively, Southeast’s struggles came in the red zone early, as the team moved the ball efficiently, but had just eight points to show for 221 first-half yards.
In the second half however, SES exploded, striking for 24 unanswered points as part of a big day for QB Danny Kejr.
The senior signal caller closed out this contest with 181 yards passing and two scores through the air, adding 46 more yards and another score on the ground.
Southeast of Saline will play host to Chaparral, who they defeated in last year’s playoffs, to kick off postseason play next Friday, while Ellsworth will stay at home to host Haven.