By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Southeast of Saline Trojans battled their hearts out on Friday night, but another magical undefeated season came to an end in the quarterfinals, this time at the hands of Hoisington 49-42.
The Cardinals (11-0) will advance to the 2A semifinals to take on Norton (11-0), while Southeast’s campaign comes to a close at 10-1.
This game was a shootout from the very beginning, as the two teams traded punches early and often, with Hoisington holding a 16-14 lead at the end of the first, and a 35-28 lead at the intermission.
Both defenses tightened the screws a bit in the second half, with each side scoring just one time in the third quarter, including an explosive 37-yard touchdown connection from Daniel Kejr to Grady Gebhardt to make it 42-36 after three.
It didn’t take long for Hoisington to respond however, as the Cardinals punched in another touchdown run, their sixth of the day, to take a 49-36 lead early in the fourth.
The Trojans would cut that deficit back down to seven on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Wyatt Boyd in the final five minutes, but their defense couldn’t get off the field and the Cardinals were able to waste away the clock to secure the quarterfinal victory.
All told, the #1 scoring offense in Class 2A ran for 280 yards as part of a night that saw them rack up over 430 yards of total offense, and 49 points, all high watermarks against the SES defense.
In his final game for the purple and white, Daniel Kejr was excellent, completing 20-33 for over 400 yards and five touchdowns despite two picks.
This game also marks the end of a remarkable run for yet another stellar senior class, who put together a four-year stretch that saw SES go 41-4 with four trips to the state quarterfinals, and a trip to the state semis in 2022.
Photo courtesy of Macy Bunch