FINAL
SALINA SOUTH 22
LIBERAL 16
The Cougars aren’t sneaking up on anyone anymore, they’re setting the tone from the opening snap.
On a cold Friday night in Liberal, the 14-seed Salina South Cougars made another statement in the Class 5A playoffs, knocking off 6-seed Liberal 22–16. The win marked their first three-win season since 2017 and their first year with multiple playoff victories since 2014.
A week earlier, South’s defense sealed the deal in the opening-round win over Andover. This time, it made the first move.
With Liberal content to pound the ball on the ground, South’s defense was once again forced to stand tall. The Redskins had first-and-goal from the 1-yard line — but four straight runs went nowhere. South turned them away on downs, a momentum-shifting stand that set the tone for the night.
The scoring started for both teams in the second quarter, with the Cougars striking first on a field goal made by Easton Wilcox. Liberal’s first score game on a field goal as well, and special teams accounted for the game’s first six points.
With a chance to take the lead going into halftime, South relied on its explosive weapons to find pay dirt.
After several healthy runs by junior running back Armane Redmond, sophomore quarterback Izrael Telles and senior receiver Jaxon Myers found success in the quick pass game.
The first touchdown of the night came on a quick wide receiver screen to Myers who picked up speed outside the numbers and ran down 34 yards down the sidelines to score. South went for two and was unsuccessful, 9-3 was the halftime score.
Both teams exchanged turnovers in the third quarter, the Cougars fumbled inside the 5-yard line and Liberal quarterback Tevin Cotter threw his 10th interception of the season. But, neither team scored directly off them, so South got the football back with a chance to take a two-score lead.
With a second half lead, the Cougars made the concreted effort to feed Armane Redmond.
Redmond always runs hard, but whether he ran between the tackles or bounced it outside, he was gashing Liberal’s defense.
He capped off South’s second drive of the third quarter by scoring from 27 yards out to make it 16-3 Cougars.
But Liberal didn’t go down without a fight. Their next drive was easily their most impressive.
Set up by stopping the Cougars on fourth down, Liberal went 82 yards down the field in four plays, all runs, to score and make it a one possession game.
Sensing it was time to take a shot down field, South’s most important score came when Izrael Telles loaded up and launched a high arching pass toward the end zone for Jaxon Myers who caught the ball and scored his second touchdown.
After getting the ball back again, South made Liberal bleed timeouts and with under two minutes left, only one first down was needed. South again threw it deep to Myers who was interfered with, gifting the Cougars a first down by way of penalty.
The Cougars lined up in victory formation, their excitement barely contained. This wasn’t a fluke, it was validation. After a regular season filled with near misses and heartbreak in one-possession games, Salina South finally flipped the script, winning back-to-back thrillers this postseason.
With the win over Liberal, Salina South set up a rematch with crosstown rival Salina Central. The Cougars and Mustangs will square off next week in the third round of the Class 5A playoffs, a matchup guaranteed to ignite the community.
