Photo courtesy of Tanner Colvin
FINAL:
SALINA SOUTH 55
HAYSVILLE-CAMPUS 6
Having beaten each other once over the previous two seasons, the South Cougars and Campus Colts entered Friday night believing the first win of their seasons was imminent.
South’s last win came against Campus in Week 7 of last season on the road 41-23, and the Cougars were eager to replicate a similar performance in front of a home crowd inside Salina Stadium.
Both sides of the football for the Cougars established themselves on their first series with the defense forcing a 3-and-out and the offense scoring three plays later as sophomore quarterback Izrael Telles found senior receiver Jaxon Myers for the first of his four touchdown receptions.
While the passing attack was prolific all game, it was opened up by establishing the rushing attack early on. Junior running back Armane Redmond ran hard from the opening snap and rushed for two touchdowns on the night.
Up two scores after two possessions, the Cougars began dialing up deep passes to their explosive receivers. Myers continued his perfect night after the opening drive, accounting for 165 yards on four catches in the first half, each of his four catches went for touchdowns including an 82-yard strike before halftime.
Junior receiver Jay Curtis entered Friday top 10 in the state in receiving yards and touchdowns and continued his stellar season. He caught five passes for 57 yards including two more touchdowns, giving him nine this season.
A career-high six touchdown passes for Izzy Telles and two more on the ground by Armane Redmond led to a dominant first half with South leading Campus 55-0.
The message from head coach Christien Ozores to his team all week, was to show poise and maturity against a team they were expected to beat. They did just that and put the game out of reach over the first two quarters of play.
Having that large of a lead heading into the second half, allowed South the opportunity to give its backups and key contributors from the junior varsity team some varsity reps in front of a packed house full of family, friends and peers.
Once time ran out on the running clock in the second half, Salina South had put together its most complete performance on the football field in years to win its first game of the 2025 season.
