By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
After three consecutive weeks on the road, the Southeast of Saline Trojans will return to Gypsum for one final non-district test against the 3-1 Clay Center Tigers.
Despite coming into this game ranked #1 in Class 2A, the Trojans will need to be on their A-game against a Clay Center squad whose only loss this year came at the hands of an undefeated 4A program.
“Clay Center has an awfully good football team with talented athletes, a good gameplan, and guys up front that do some really good work,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We’re expecting another really good game this week.”
The Tigers have put together another hard-nosed flexbone football team this year, with three different rushers averaging over 12 yards-per-carry in a legitimate sample size.
While no individual has carried the rock more than 40 times through week four, Clay Center’s ability to rotate in fresh legs has allowed them to dominate their opponents, scoring 143 points in their three wins.
“They do a really good job of running the football and their yardage is pretty even with a good passing game mixed in as well,” Gebhardt said. “You don’t get to be 3-1 without being aggressive on defense and they’ve done a really good job of shutting teams down this year.”
That aforementioned Clay Center defense has been lights out since losing 45-6 to Wamego, allowing just 14 points to Abilene and pitching two shutouts in the weeks that have followed.
On the Southeast side, things have looked just as good as the Trojan defense has allowed just 23 points since a week-one shootout with Rock Creek.
“The experience we’ve gotten has really helped us a lot, especially on the defensive side,” he said. “Those kids are beginning to understand what we want them to do and there’s still room for improvement but they’re really understanding the game better.”
Offensively the Trojans have continued to roll, averaging 45 points per game thanks in large part to quarterback Luke Gebhardt, who has over 1,150 combined yards entering week five.
Despite their recent success, Clay Center is likely the toughest opponent remaining on the Trojan schedule, and SES will need to prepare for a dogfight on Friday night.
“We have to do our jobs,” Gebhardt said. “We can’t try to do too much against these guys or we’re going to give up big plays. They’ll find spots if you’re not where you’re supposed to be and exploit that.”
Kickoff between the Trojans and Tigers is set for 7 pm in Gypsum and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM).