By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
For the third time in five years, the Southeast of Saline Trojans find themselves in the state semifinals, one win away from a coveted trip to a state title game.
To reach that promised land for the first time since the team’s 2005 state championship, Southeast must overcome a familiar foe, as they prepare to take on Beloit for the second time this season.
Southeast of Saline (11-0), manhandled Beloit (9-2) by a final score of 32-6 back in week three in the worst loss of the season for the orange Trojans.
“We were very fortunate in that first game that Beloit put the ball on the ground multiple times,” SES head coach Mitch Gebhardt said. “They put us in good spots and we capitalized in the second quarter but we know they’re going to do a good job.”
Despite winning confidently in September, and dominating the series winning each of the last seven contests, Southeast understands the magnitude of the moment, and will be expecting a real challenge on Friday night.
“At the end of the day it’s Beloit,” Gebhardt said. “They do an outstanding job with their football program and have for a long time. Coach Gober and his staff do a good job, it doesn’t surprise me that we’re playing Beloit this late in the year. Our mentality is playing our best football this week and finding a way to go 1-0.”
For Southeast of Saline, success will start on the defensive end, where the Trojans have allowed just 14 points all postseason.
“Coach Ptacek has done a great job with oud defense for years and our kids do an excellent job of playing together and playing as one unit,” he said. “They trust the guy next to them, they’re in the right spots and they play fast and physical. That group has only gotten better as the year has gone on.”
That unit will be responsible for stopping the two-headed monster of quarterback Jaxon Weston, and tailback Joel Rexroat.
“Their offense is very good and both Weston and Rexroat do a good job with the football,” Gebhardt said. “Their offensive line is very good and if you’re undisciplined they’ll gash you. Offensively we have to play disciplined and pick up first downs to keep those guys off the field.”
Offensively, no one has had an answer for SES all season long, as the team has outscored their opponents 482-104, thanks in large part to the triple threat of Gannon Jacobson, Grady Gebhardt, and Tucker Thaxton.
“The versatility of our skill guys is a big deal and we have a lot of guys that touch the football,” he said. “When someone else can step up and we can move the football in different ways that’s huge and having those guys is big.”
The blueprint for beating Beloit has been clear from day one; stop the run, and challenge the secondary. While obvious, just two teams have managed to follow that to a victory, but Southeast is well equipped to become the third, and to repeat their week three performance on Friday night if they can cross their t’s and dot their i’s.
“We have move the football effectively against them and we need to speed them up,” Gebhardt said. “Defensively we have to be sound, they do a lot of different things that look the same but we have to make the right reads and be physical when we get there.”
Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7:00 at Kansas Wesleyan’s JRI Stadium in Salina, and as always, can be streamed with live video and commentary on Salina Post by clicking HERE, or heard on KINA (910 AM/107.5 FM).
The winner of this matchup will face either Nemaha Central (10-1), or Council Grove (8-3) in the 2A State Championship game next week.