By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
With a 6-0 record, the best total offense in Class 2A (441 yds/g), and a struggling 0-6 Lyons team in their sights, the Southeast of Saline Trojan train shows no sign of slowing this week.
SES has outscored their first six opponents, including the #5 team in Class 3A, by a baffling 184 points, claiming the third-best scoring offense in 2A (42.2 ppg).
Despite their recent successes, things have been far from perfect in Gypsum, where untimely fumbles and interceptions have plagued Southeast in big spots early in games.
“We’ve been concerned with the early turnovers in these last two matchups,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We need to make sure we’re taking care of the football on offense and on the defensive side we’re still working on generating more takeaways.”
While the final scores show how dominant the Trojans can be at the top of their game, defeating their last three opponents by a combined 84 points, things have been much closer than that at halftime, and SES will look to get out of the gates quicker this week.
“The start of the game is huge and you don’t necessarily need to score a touchdown but you need to have positive things happen early,” Gebhardt said. “We’ve had those positives happen in almost every game but there’s an early lull that we still need to get rid of.”
Turnovers aside, Southeast has looked every bit as dominant as their ranking would lend on defense and in the run game, where Luke Gebhardt and Nate Friesen have worn down team after team behind a surging O-Line.
The Trojans boast the third-best total defense (159 yds/g allowed), and seventh-best scoring defense (11.5 pts/g allowed) in Class 2A, and will look to feast again this week against the fifth-worst scoring offense in the state of Kansas.
Lyons has averaged just over a field goal per game in 2022, and has been on the receiving end of four shutouts, including a 28-0 loss at the hands of a Nickerson team that fell 108-0 to Andale.
Despite the lack of pedigree, the Trojans are once again preparing as they always do, not only to remain undefeated but to take another step forward as the regular season winds to a close.
“I really hope that all of our guys are taking this game seriously,” Gebhardt said. “We work to get better and go 1-0 every single week regardless of our opponent and we’re preparing for Lyons like we would anyone else.”
While SES will enter this game as heavy favorites, Coach Gebhardt and company are affording the Lions a lot of respect in the leadup to this matchup.
“Lyons is 50-50 on offense so you can’t take one thing away and expect to stop them,” he said. We have to play fundamentally sound and be in the right spots on defense and eliminate turnovers and get the ball to our playmakers on offense.”
Kickoff between the Trojans and Lions is set for 7 pm at Lyons High School and as always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed on the Salina Post.