By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
In their maiden voyage into 8-Man football, the Ell-Saline Cardinals have looked excellent, posting a 6-2 record in the regular season, falling only to 8-1 Little River and 7-2 Clifton Clyde.
As a reward for all their hard work, the Cardinals will have to square off against another 6-2 team in the opening round of this year’s 8-Man DI playoff, with the #1 team in the state lining up on the other side of the bracket.
“This feels like a continuation of the work that we’ve put in this season,” Ell-Saline head coach Joe Roche said. “Our process won’t change but the motivation has certainly increased because it’s win or go home and we don’t want to go home.”
While the Cardinals recognize that they will be staring down an 8-Man gauntlet in their first postseason run in the classification, Ell-Saline feels that their regular season opponents have prepared them for a moment such as this.
“Little River and Clifton Clyde did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Roche said. “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the mouth and they beat us up a little bit. We’ve learned and we’ve grown from those games and we have great kids on this team with great character. Mentally and physically we’re getting better and better.”
To survive and advance to the round of 16, Ell-Saline will have to eliminate a stout 6-2 Hoxie team that played a similarly brutal slate to get here, falling to #1 Wichita County and 7-2 Atwood-Rawlins County.
“Hoxie is a tough football team that’s played a great schedule and learned a lot of the same lessons we have,” he said. “They’re going to bring it right at us with some big kids and they have a very high-caliber wrestling community. Any time you play a team from that region you know you’re going to have your hands full with tough, well-conditioned kids.”
In order to ensure their success, the Cardinals will have to mitigate the Indian’s bruising rushing attack, something they struggled to do against Clifton-Clyde and Little River earlier this season.
“We have to stop their running game, that seems to be their strength,” Roche said. “They seem to be better at running the ball than passing it but they have some big tight ends and some fast receivers that give them options, we have to know where they’re at on the field.”
While their week nine opponent presents a real challenge, Ell-Saline will play this game in the friendly confines of Brookville and is ecstatic for a chance to survive and advance in front of a sea of red.
“We’re excited to play this game at home,” he said, “This little community we have here pulls in people from all over the county and we’re excited to have them here. We know what’s at stake and we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”
Despite entering week nine with several key injuries, the Cardinal's long-term goals have never wavered, and Ell-Saline will be looking to make some noise as they introduce themselves to the 8-Man playoff field for the first time.
“Our aspirations are to make a deep run into the playoffs,” Roche said. “That attitude hasn’t changed since summer weights even with the injuries but we know we’re going to have to play some tough teams along the way. We can’t be looking ahead but we know where we want to go.”
Kickoff between the Cardinals and Indians is set for 7 pm at Ell-Saline High School with the winner advancing to take on 9-0 Wichita County who eliminated La Crosse on Thursday.