By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Abilene Cowboys will enter the postseason still in search of their first victory as they travel to face the 7-1 Buhler Crusaders.
The Cowboys will have their work cut out for them as Buhler enters this contest as the top seed in the South, their lone loss coming as part of a split with 5A opponents, defeating Goddard but falling to Andover Central.
While the road ahead will be a tough one for Abilene, the attitude in practice has remained positive as the team looks for a massive upset.
“The energy has been great,” Cowboys head coach Brad Nicks said. “Our seniors are great leaders and they’re flying around and having fun in practice. We’ve had some of the best practices of our season recently and we played Wamego really tough last week.”
Abilene will once again be without the services of sophomore quarterback Stocton Timbrook and will start freshman Aaron Hartman for a third straight week.
“They’ve really rallied around Aaron and they’re trying to do what they can to put him in a position to be successful,” Nicks said.
While the Cowboys reshuffle the offense, the defense has been rounding into form in the last few games.
“Our defense has really stepped up and played some really good teams tough,” Nicks said. “There’s not a single kid who’s quitting on us and we have some guys out but the team is continuing to fight and I’m proud of them for that.”
So far in 2021, the Crusaders have lived up to the hype, outscoring their 4A opponents 255-81, and handing McPherson one of their only two losses this year.
Despite all that, Abilene has been doing its best to tune out the noise as they travel to Buhler this week.
“You always go into a game thinking you can win,” he said. “We have to match their intensity, cut down the turnovers, and play like there’s no tomorrow because for our seniors there may not be.”
Kickoff between the Cowboys and Crusaders is set for 7pm at Buhler High School this Friday.