By LARRY MORITZ

Salina Journal

When scoring opportunities present themselves tonight for Southeast of Saline, it would behoove the Trojans to take advantage.

Southeast will face one of the stingiest defenses in all of Kansas when the Trojans open the Class 3A playoffs against Hutchinson Trinity in a 7 p.m. contest at Trinity High School.

Trinity not only comes into the game with a 9-0 record, but the Celtics have allowed only four touchdowns (27 points) the entire season.

"We've got to control the tempo and do that by controlling the ball," said Southeast coach Pat Haxton. "We can't have turnovers because they are too good a team to be giving them the ball. We've got to continue to get first downs, and if we get close to the end zone, we've got to score."

Scoring is one of the things the Trojans have done at a healthy clip this season. Southeast (8-1) averages 36.9 points and 380 yards of total offense a game. Southeast has not been held below 12 points in a game, while Trinity has not allowed more than 12 points to any opponent.

"They are big, strong, physical and fast," Haxton said. "They are a good football team and cover all the bases pretty good.

"We've seen some big, physical defenses, and I would compare them a lot to Marion with their size up front and their speed at the linebackers and the secondary. We'll have to do some things differently of course than we did against Marion, but we're going to rely on what brought us here. We'll throw it some and take what they give us."

Southeast has been solid defensively as well. The Trojans have held opponents to 10 points or less in six of their eight victories.

After suffering its lone loss in the district opener to Hillsboro, Southeast faced must-win situations the next two weeks and responded with shutouts of Marion and Herington.

"It's been our goal all year to get to this point and continue on," Haxton said. "We have had our backs against the wall the last two weeks after the way we played in Game 7. It's the same situation now, where we have to win to continue to play."

The Southeast-Trinity matchup will be one of only two games in the 3A playoffs where the two teams have combined for one loss or less -- the other being Garden Plain (8-1) at Wichita Collegiate (9-0). Southeast is making its fifth state playoff appearance in six years but is looking for its first postseason win since 2006.

Hutchinson Trinity is one of eight unbeaten teams remaining in 3A. The Celtics won a total of eight games in 2008, including a 16-7 victory over Hillsboro in the opening round of the playoffs. Trinity was eliminated in the second round with a 56-14 loss to Garden Plain.

The Southeast/Trinity winner will play Saturday against the Conway Springs/Douglass winner. If Southeast wins tonight, it will play at home Saturday regardless which opponent it faces.

Bennington at Ell-Saline

Ell-Saline coach Terry King didn't have to search far for game film on the Cardinals' opening round opponent. Tonight's Class 2-1A opener at Brookville between Ell-Saline and Bennington will be a rematch of a Week 3 contest between the Heart of America League rivals.

"We've talked a little about that game, but we're not going to spend much time with that," King said. "We won that night fairly easily, and we're trying to tell the kids that it's not going to be that easy this time.

"We're going to have to play good football. We're going to have to block and tackle and hang on to the football."

Bennington was 0-3 after a 58-13 loss to Ell-Saline in September, but followed that with three consecutive victories. The Bulldogs got a win over Sacred Heart to lock up their playoff berth, but are coming off a 39-0 loss to Minneapolis that dropped them to 4-5.

The Bulldogs rely primarily on their rushing attack to move the ball. They have 2,238 yards of total offense this season, with 86 percent of that (1,926 yards) coming on the ground.

Junior Brian Gellinger has carried for 1,078 yards and has 11 of the team's 18 rushing touchdowns, while averaging 6.0 yards a carry. Fullback Dakota Rohleder has been equally effective, averaging 5.8 yards a carry for 444 total yards.

"We're going in with the idea that we have to stop the run," King said. "They do have some really good backs with Rohleder and Gellinger, and they have a fine quarterback, too.

"One of the strong points for Ell-Saline football over the past few years has been our run defense. We held Sterling to 80 total yards last week, but if we make a mistake on Gellinger, it could turn into a long run."

Ell-Saline (7-2) is making a third consecutive postseason appearance. The Cardinals lost in the opening round in 2007, then won their playoff opener last year against Minneapolis but fell to Ellis in the second round.

"One of our goals at the start of the season was to have a first-round playoff game at home," King said. "With the kids we had coming back, we thought we had a good opportunity to get there.

"I think we're where we should be right now."

Bennington will attempt to beat the odds tonight. Teams with records below .500 were 4-26 in the opening round of the playoffs in 2008, including an 0-11 record in 2-1A.

The Bennington/Ell-Saline winner will play Saturday against the winner of tonight's game between Ellis and Washington County. The Saturday scenarios for Ell-Saline and Bennington are the same -- each would be at home if the opponent is Ellis but have to go on the road if the opponent is Washington County.

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