Southeast of Saline took their 3-0 record on the road Friday night into St. Marys to face the Bears. It’s that time of year that the first three games don’t mean a lot as district play will determine seeds for the upcoming playoffs.
The Trojans did absolutely nothing to hurt that charge on Friday. Junior tailback Bryant Banks would help SES get on the board early with a pair of 1 yard touchdown runs. The 2-point conversions following those touchdowns would extend the Trojan lead to 16-0. St. Marys would score on the final play of the first quarter on an 80 yard touchdown pass, pulling within 10 points. Southeast of Saline still led at halftime on the strength of a 20 yard screen pass from quarterback Jaxson Gebhardt to Banks for a score. Trojans lead at the break was 24 to 6.
Southeast would receive the opening kick of the second half and march all the way down the field for another score, a 16 yard pass from Gebhardt to Senior Seth Eklund. Another Trojan 2-point conversion would extend the lead to 32-6. St. Marys would find the passing game once again and score the next two touchdowns, pulling the game back to within two possessions with SES leading 32-18.
That push by the Bears would go answered by a final SES blitz that would close the game for good. Two Trojan drives would lead to a 46 yard and a 9 yard touchdown run for Gebhardt. Another pair of 2-point conversions would set the final score at 48-18.
Gebhardt on the night went 15 of 22 passing for 167 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Junior quarterback also had 172 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns. Bryant Banks had 2 rushing touchdowns and a receiving score. SES converted 2-point plays after all six of their touchdowns.
Southeast racked up over 400 yards on offense while allowing 260 yards to St. Marys on defense. Sophomore Chase Poague created the only turnover of the game with an interception in the fourth quarter.
Southeast of Saline (4-0) moves to 1-0 in district play and will be back at home next week to host Rossville. The Bulldogs are 2-2 with losses to Silver Lake and Riley County.