By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
As week two of the Kansas high school football playoffs gets underway, the Southeast of Saline Trojans turn their attention to the 4-4 Marysville Bulldogs, who came from behind to eliminate Colby last week.
Marysville got off to a slow start, dropping their first three games of the season and losing their week four game to Covid.
“We knew all along that the beginning of our year was going to be tough,” Marysville head coach Dustin Heuer said. “We returned very little experience and I don’t think it was an issue of our kids not being ready to go, I think we just needed to figure out what we could do well and where we needed to put our kids.”
Following the “bye week,” the Bulldogs got back to work, ripping off four wins in five weeks, including last week's come from behind 45-21 victory over Colby.
“You hate to have a bye week but that couldn’t have come at a better time,” he said. “We got some kids healthy and when they came back they really did a good job of turning our season around.”
Much like Southeast, the Marysville offense is loaded with playmakers at every position.
Quarterback Ayden Price has thrown for over 800 yards and 8 touchdowns with just two picks this season, spread evenly to five different Bulldog receivers.
“They’ve got three or four receivers that are really good so we don’t feel like we can just nail just down one or two of them,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “They throw the ball as good as anyone we’ve played this year so we’re going to have to play a very good defensive game.”
Marysville has looked good on the ground in 2020 as well, with Junior Patrick Smith leading the way.
Smith has averaged over four yards a carry for just over 500 yards on the year and seven rushing touchdowns.
“Our kids have really bought into the idea that it doesn't matter who carries or catches the ball,” Heuer said. “I hope that’s one of the hardest things that teams have to prepare for with us.”
The Bulldogs will have to rely on a strong defensive performance to hold off one of the most rounded teams SES has had in years.
“Nothing is going to come easy, we have to take advantage of the opportunities that we get and trust that our defense can keep us in it,” he said.”
For the first time in what feels like forever, the Trojans will have a second consecutive home playoff game following their 46-8 blowout of Clay Center last week.
At 8-0 and with a chance to become the first Southeast of Saline team to make it to the state quarterfinals in over a decade, the Trojans know how much is on the line heading into this week.
“We know it’s a big week for us and we want to continue our football season,” Gebhardt said. “We always talk about wanting to take steps forward throughout the week and hopefully what we did shows on Friday.”
Awaiting the winner of SES and Marysville will be the winner of Wichita Collegiate (8-1) at Cheney (9-0).
Kickoff in Gypsum is scheduled for 7pm and as always, Eagle Radio is the home for Southeast of Saline Football. Games can be heard on KINA (910 AM and 107.5 FM) and on Salina Post.