By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
On Friday night, Southeast of Saline and Kingman clashed in a heavyweight 2A semifinal bout that saw some of the craziest late-game action in the state.
Trailing by eight after being stifled for the majority of the fourth quarter, Luke Gebhardt connected with his brother Jake on a 24-yard bomb to bring SES back within a pair in the closing minutes.
A converted two-point conversion would tie the game at 14 and send things to overtime, where the Trojans struck on the first play, courtesy of a ten-yard Nathan Friesen dash, with another two-point conversion putting Southeast ahead by eight.
Unfortunately for SES, that 16-point swing wouldn’t be enough as Kingman answered to force a second overtime, made a critical stop, and plunged into the end zone to advance to the 2A state championship game with a 28-22 2OT victory.
“It was a hard-fought game,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “I thought both teams played well and going into it we knew Kingman was going to be good. I really felt like both teams battled until the end, it was a heck of a high school football game.”
This overtime loss brings a bittersweet end to another 11-win Trojan season, Southeast’s second in two years, and second since 2005.
The Trojans outscored their twelve opponents by 411 combined points, averaging 47 as an offense while holding the opposition to just 12.5.
Along the way, SES handed out losses to future quarterfinal companions in Rock Creek and Beloit, as well as a Clay Center team that reached the 3A semifinals, en route to a second semifinal appearance themselves.
At the curtain call of this campaign one thing is for certain, whatever the Trojans had left when they got off the bus on Friday was left on that field in Kingman.
“I’m awfully proud of all of our guys,” Gebhardt said. “We asked them to play as hard as they could on every single down and to leave everything on the field every week and from game one to the last game and our kids did that, what else could you ask for? These guys were committed from the beginning, they worked their tails off and the lessons they learned throughout the season will hopefully go with them through the rest of their lives.”
Much of this success was built on the backs of ten incredible seniors, who will go down in Trojan history as some of the best to ever do it at SES.
“This was a special group of seniors,” he said. “Obviously the wins and losses they’ve been involved in have been outstanding but the leadership they’ve brought to us has been phenomenal. They were handed down that leadership from some awfully good kids and they’ve carried and passed it on. They understood their roles, they were unselfish and they put the team before themselves. They committed to our program outside of the game and they were dedicated to being good people.”
Over the offseason, SES will graduate Luke and Jake Gebhardt, Michael Murray, Landen Allen, Caden Isaacson, Mac Chambers, Trever Keller, Slade Johnson, Wade Rutheford, and Jase VanAmburg, but despite these heavy losses, the Trojans will still return a great deal of talent for what is sure to be an interesting 2023 campaign.
“We’re excited about all of the kids that we’ll be bringing back,” Gebhardt said. “They understand the work that has to be done to continue having success and we hope those kids will be up for the challenge.”
The Salina Post would like to thank all those who followed our coverage of Southeast of Saline football throughout the year.
For continuing coverage of SES athletics, including Trojan and Lady Trojan basketball, stay tuned to the Salina Post.