On Friday night, Southeast of Saline traveled to Council Grove looking to secure the #3 seed in Class 2A District 4. The Trojans were able to do just that with a 41-21 victory over the Braves.

SES sprinted out to a quick 14-0 lead when they scored on their first two drives. It appeared the Trojans were on their way to a three touchdown lead when they fumbled the football at midfield. Council Grove recovered the football and returned to the 15 yard line where they would eventually score. Council Grove would have another opportunity to score immediately following that with a first and goal inside the two yard line. But the Trojan defense would not let that happen, turning the Braves away on four straight downs and retaining a 14-7 lead at halftime.

The two teams would exchange touchdowns in the third quarter with Southeast of Saline capturing momentum early in the fourth. Leading 21-14, SES would go down the field and score on an 11 yard touchdown pass from Jaxson Gebhardt to Raef Boley making the score 28-14. A couple plays later with Council Grove’s starting quarterback on the sideline after receiving a big hit, the Braves backup fell victim to Junior Eli Harris on an interception and a 40 yard return for a Trojan touchdown. Aaron Kitchener’s fifth PAT kick of the night put the Trojans up 35-14 with 9:10 left.

Later in the quarter, Bryant Banks would add to his big night scoring his third rushing touchdown and sealing the win for SES. Banks on the night tallied 149 yards on 21 carries and 3 touchdowns. The Trojan offense committed three turnovers in the game, but the defense dominated the game with eight tackles for loss, four quarterback sacks and the Harris pick six.

Southeast of Saline (6-2) will start bracket play next Friday night when they travel to Riverside (6-2).