By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
The Hoisington Cardinals played a sound defensive game for four full quarters against Southeast of Saline, holding them to their second-smallest offensive output this season.
It hardly mattered, as the Trojans rolled to a 34-8 win and a sectional title, punching a ticket to the state semis for the third time in four years and avenging last year’s elimination loss at the hands of the Cardinals.
“Hoisington is a good, physical football team, they always are,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “Our kids stepped up to the challenge and set the tone early. They run a hard offense but our kids did a good job of being in the right spots.”
With this win, SES remains perfect on the year at 11-0, while Hoisington’s season draws to a close at 6-5.
Hoisington’s defense held the line in the first half, allowing just one touchdown in each of the first two quarters and creating a takeaway on a fumble deep in their own territory.
When the Trojans needed a spark on offense, they turned to Grady Gebhardt, who toted the rock 34 times for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
Gebhardt didn’t need all of that to achieve a win tonight, as the Southeast defense played lights out once again, holding the high-powered Hoisington offense to just 177 yards of total offense and allowing just ten first downs.
Teron Kraft, in particular found it difficult to get the ground game going, finding just 43 yards on 12 carries in a stifling performance.
Gannon Jacobson, who finished the day 15-25 for 146 yards and a touchdown through the air, got the scoring started on a 22-yard strike to Tucker Thaxton in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
From there, it was Gebhardt’s time to shine, as the senior tailback punched in three unanswered scores to put the Trojans up 30-0.
The Cardinals did find the end zone late in the fourth quarter, but it was far too little far too late, as the Trojans rolled to another confident victory.
SES dominated the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for more than 30 minutes of this 48-minute game.
“We wanted to try to keep the ball away from them and first downs in games like this are even more critical,” Gebhardt said. “As the games continue on, things are going to be different than they are in the regular season, but our guys did a good job of handling that.
Southeast’s semifinal opponent will be the Beloit Trojans, who shut out Garden Plain 19-0 tonight.
SES defeated the orange Trojans 32-6 in one of Beloit’s only two losses this season. The other was to Norton, who Southeast rolled 34-7 last week.
On the other side of the bracket, Council Grove (8-3) will face the defending 2A state champs in Nemaha Central (10-1).
To watch the full broadcast of tonight’s game, click HERE.