By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
Southeast of Saline saw the longest streak in the state snapped last week as the Marysville Bulldogs handed them their first regular-season loss since week seven of 2019.
The Trojans will look to bounce back in a big way tonight as they travel to Wichita for their final non-district game against the Spartans of Wichita Collegiate.
Below you can find game notes for Southeast of Saline’s week five showdown.
Week Five - SE of Saline (3-1) at Wichita Collegiate (1-3)
Date/Time - Friday, October 2, 2026, 7:00 kickoff
Location - Coulter Stadium, Wichita, KS
The Series - The Trojans and Spartans have met just one time, with Collegiate ending Southeast’s 2020 season in the 3A state quarterfinals.
Season Results
SE of Saline
- W 24-22 vs. Beloit
- W 55-6 at Lyons
- W 48-9 vs. Ellsworth
- L 28-14 at Marysville
Wichita Collegiate
- W 41-6 at El Dorado
- L 33-13 vs. Wellington
- L 20-6 at Rose Hill
- L 49-6 at Andale
District 5 Standings
T1. Council Grove (1-0, +21)
T1. Marysville (1-0, +14)
3. Riley County (0-0)
T4. SE of Saline (0-1, -14)
T4. Minneapolis (0-1, -21)
NCAA Standings (league, overall)
1. SE of Saline (3-0, 3-1)
T2. Lyons (2-1, 3-1)
T2. Beloit (2-1, 3-1)
T2. Sacred Heart (2-1, 3-1)
T5. Republic County (1-2, 1-3)
T5. Ellsworth (1-2, 1-3)
7. Minneapolis (0-4, 0-3)
Broadcast info - This game will be streamed with live video and broadcast commentary on Salina Post and on the Salina Post YouTube page, and will be broadcast on radio on KINA (910 AM, 107.5 FM, or online at 910KINA.com.) Pregame begins at 6:30 on both platforms.
Voice of the Trojans Devin Hanney will provide play-by-play, with Kevin Lilley joining the booth for color commentary.
Stream link - youtube.com/watch?v=D3UWAr3hqXM
THE TROJANS AT A GLANCE
Despite the loss last week, Southeast of Saline is off to another promising start, opening the campaign at 3-1.
The Trojans have looked solid on both sides of the ball, outscoring their first four opponents by 76 combined points.
SES is holding their opponents to just 16.3 points per game while scoring an average of 35.3 on offense.
THE LEFTY ASSASSIN
Tiernan Ptacek continues to grow his numbers through four weeks, completing 57% of his passes for 773 yards and ten touchdowns. Ptacek has also been a force on the ground, adding another 361 yards and six more scores in the run game.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Southeast of Saline has been as close to untouchable as a team can be when playing in Gypsum, Kansas. Winning 41 of their last 42 games at home, with the lone loss coming in a state semifinal to Andale in 2021.
The Trojans have also won 19 consecutive home openers.
A LOOK AT THE SPARTANS
Despite a 1-3 start, the Spartans will provide a real test for Southeast of Saline in enemy territory tonight.
Prior to 2025, Collegiate was on a run of 33 straight seasons posting a .500 or better finish, including state titles in 2009, 2000 and 1994.
Led by first-year head coach Brian Hill, who took the reins from Troy Black, the Spartans continue to spread teams out and rely on their playmakers in one-on-one situations.
Collegiate has already been battle-tested, with their three losses coming to a pair of 3-1 4A opponents in Wellington and Rose Hill, and a 3A juggernaut in Andale, who sits undefeated at 4-0.
QUOTES FROM COACH PTACEK
On a 28-14 loss to Marysville last week…
“Marysville has a good squad. They were fast and physical, which magnified a lot of the mistakes that we made.”
On seeking out tough matchups in the regular season…
“We absolutely want to play the tougher teams throughout the regular season. Anything we can do to prepare ourselves for postseason play will be a big benefit to us.”
On Wichita Collegiate and the challenges they present…
“Collegiate has athletes all over the field, and they’ve got a new coach this year. They have good team speed, and we’ll have to play faster than we did last Friday to keep up.”
On ignoring Collegiate’s record as it pertains to their schedule…
“We cannot look past this collegiate team, they’ve played some solid teams and been in close games with those teams. That record doesn’t mean anything to us and we’ll have our work cut out for us tonight.”
On the keys to getting back in the win column this week…
“We learned from film but we’ve also talked about the speed we play at and it needs to be faster. Our energy in practice has been really good this week, we just have to continue building on that and clean up our mistakes.”