By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
On October 18th, 2019, the Southeast of Saline football team dropped a regular season game at home to the Riley County Falcons.
In the 1,442 days since, the Trojans are a perfect 28-0 in the regular season.
That streak, the second longest of its kind in the state of Kansas, has not come without serious challengers, but each and every time, the Trojans have found a way to rise to the occasion.
Tonight, Southeast might face their biggest challenge yet in this span, as they make the trip to Clay Center to face an undefeated, state-ranked Tiger team in hostile territory.
“Clay Center has an awfully good football team,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “We knew that when we played them last year and Coach Henry does a great job of coaching them up with his staff. I think this is going to be a good football game and I’m sure a lot of people have us as an underdog going in but I really believe that both teams are going to have to play well.”
This was a high-profile matchup a season ago as well, but this year, things in Clay Center feel different, as the Tigers, currently ranked #5 in Class 3A, have steamrolled each of their first four opponents for a point differential of +148.
This year’s Tiger team has upgraded its aerial assault, as quarterback Cole Pladson has completed 70% of his passes for over 500 yards and 11 touchdowns, adding another 145 yards and two more scores on the ground.
That effort has been aided by two senior backs in Brody Hayes and Carter Long who add more than 500 additional rushing yards and five more TDs to the mix, with Hayes also hauling in seven passes for 124 yards and four more scores through the air.
“They’ve got athletes everywhere and everyone who touches the ball can make a big play,” Gebhardt said. “It all starts up front for them on both sides of the ball and they have outstanding line play and incredibly skilled kids in the skill positions on both sides. They’re a complete football game and we’ll have to play awfully sound football.”
For as impressive as Clay Center’s offense has been, the Trojan defense hasn’t skipped a beat, and once again looks like a formidable force, holding opponents to just 4.8 points, and under 190 yards per game.
“Chance Ptacek puts a great defensive scheme together and our coaches do a great job of coaching it,” he said. “Our defensive strength is built in the weight room and it’s built on trust between our athletes. They trust that the guy next to them is going to do what he’s supposed to do so they don’t have to do more than they’re supposed to do.”
Unlike last year’s meeting between the two, this game will also take place in Clay Center, and SES will face a true hostile environment for the first time in 2023.
“This will be a playoff-type atmosphere,” Gebhardt said. “This is their homecoming and it’ll be big for some of our kids who haven’t played in big games to go up there and play a team that’s bigger than they are, they’re excited to do that.”
Despite facing tough odds on the road, no one will be surprised to learn that the preparation for Southeast has been the same this week as it has been all season, and all throughout this impressive run, with the Trojans looking inward and working on getting the most out of themselves come Friday night.
“We need to clean up penalties,” he said. “We did a good job for a couple of weeks but we took a step back last week. We also have to win the turnover battle and keep picking up first downs to keep the ball out of their hands.”
Kickoff between the #5 Tigers and #4 Trojans is slated for 7:00 at Clay Center High School.
As always the game can be heard on KINA (910 AM or 107.5 FM) or streamed with live audio and video on the Salina Post with Devin Hanney and Russ Cossel on the call.
To watch this game click HERE