By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline football team set a new high watermark in the Gebhardt era last year, finishing with a dazzling 11-1 overall record, complete with a trip to the Class 2A state semifinals in November.
Despite losing several stars to graduation, including two-year quarterback Luke Gebhardt, this year’s Trojan squad returns a solid store of talent, and will be eager to return to their winning ways in 2023.
“We have some good kids back and some strong returning leaders but we also have some guys who will be taking on a leadership role and learning what comes with that,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “When there are older guys in front of you you can learn from them but now it’s their time to step up.”
Southeast will enter the new year on one of the most ridiculous runs in the state of Kansas across any level, as the purple and white unit hasn’t lost a regular-season game in over 1,700 days dating back to 2018, a streak eclipsed only by that of the Andale Indians.
While much of that success is a product of the hard work put in on the varsity practice field, the Trojan program is also unique in keeping its system consistent across multiple levels, and that consistency has translated to some dominant football at both the JV and middle school levels in recent year’s.
“Having our system stretch all the way back into our junior high has been huge,” Gebhardt said. “Until you get to high school you can’t really know what varsity football is like but we’ve had some success at a lot of different levels. Even our fourth through sixth graders get a chance to see how we do things and we believe that success builds on success.”
This year’s varsity squad will be led by a new signal caller as senior Danny Kejr assumes the role of quarterback, looking to pick up right where all-state performer Luke Gebhardt left off.
Kejr will be joined in the backfield by a familiar face in Nate Friesen, who racked up 1,000 yards and 17 touchdowns in the 2022 season, and will have both new and familiar targets to throw to in Tucker Thaxton and Cameron Witte, who will look to fill the shoes left by guys like Michael Murray, Landen Allen, and Jake Gebhardt.
The offensive line in front of that group will see several newcomers slot in alongside all-NCAA center Nathan Weller, as well as returning starter Brody Chambers.
Defensively, the Trojans return a pair of anchors on the line in Josiah Monday (46 tackles, 4 sacks), and Chambers, while the all-state safety Kejr (64 tackles, 2 INTs) patrols the deepest parts of the field.
SES also retains the services of Witte at linebacker and Wyatt Boyd at DB among others who saw time in 2022, but will have several new faces looking to step up and make an impact on defense.
While many of the faces around this Trojan program have changed, the goals and expectations have not, and SES will be just committed to their “1-0” policy of steady improvement as they have been in years past.
“I say this every year but honestly our only goal is to keep getting better each and every day,” Gebhardt said. “As long as we keep taking steps forward we’ll be playing good football by the end of the season.”
The Trojans open their 2023 campaign on the road on Friday, September 1st when they travel north for a battle with the Rock Creek Mustangs of Class 3A.