Kobie Henley always hoped he would see the day Salina South’s football team faced rival Salina Central in a meaningful postseason matchup.
But admittedly, given Central’s recent dominance in the series, it was little more than a pipe dream. That is, until it wasn’t.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Henley said this week after an improbable playoff run the past two weeks turned South’s dream into a reality, setting up a 7 p.m. Class 5A state quarterfinal clash with the Mustangs on Friday at Salina Stadium.
“We always have those talks, that maybe we’ll play Central in the playoffs, but it never happens.”
The chances that the two Salina teams would meet up in the playoffs for the for the first time since 2004 still seemed remote after Central breezed through the regular season with a 7-1 record to claim the No. 2 seed in the West, while South was 1-7 for a second straight year and seeded 14th.
But unlike 2024, not to mention back-to-back winless seasons before that, the Cougars were competitive in nearly every game this year. After falling 31-21 to Central in a four-quarter battle to start the season, they also dropped single-possession heartbreakers to Maize South (38-35), Valley Center (29-23) and Goddard (34-27).
The Cougars then stunned West No. 3 seed Andover on the road, 24-20, to open the playoffs and followed it up last week with a 22-16 decision at No. 6 Liberal.
“It’s just like a sigh of relief, just learning that all the work every single one of us put in is finally paying off, and we’re showcasing what this team can actually do,” South junior linebacker Maddox Girard said.
Now the Cougars must get past a Central team that blew out both Topeka West (68-22) and Goddard (62-32) at home in the first two rounds of the playoffs. But they already know from experience that they can hang with the Mustangs and come into the rematch riding a wave of confidence and momentum.
“The Mayor’s Cup, of course that’s a crazy game for us,” Henley said of the first Central game. “First game of the season, our rival team, and going into that you never really know what’s going to happen.
“So, being able to play the same Central team just later in the season, everything’s developed, and it’s going to really show what we can do and who we are as a football team.”
Second-year South head coach Christien Ozores likes the way the season has unfolded so far.
“I think the speed of the game has slowed down a little bit for our guys,” he said. “I think we’ve gotten better as the year’s gone on and we’re starting to feel more comfortable offensively, defensively and just in our systems.”
The last time the two teams squared off in the playoffs, South prevailed, 21-14, in overtime and went on to win the 2004 state championship. It marked the sixth straight postseason meeting between the team with the winner going on to win state in five of them.
Girard was not yet alive to witness those historic playoff battles from 1999-2004, he knows all about them, thanks to his family ties.
“Both my parents grew up South people, and my dad played football,” Girard said of his father Jeremy, a 1995 South graduate. “My mom (Karmen, Class of ’96) was a huge athlete and she was a really competitive person, and so she would get more fired up about the South-Central games back in the day than anybody.
“My whole family grew up in Salina, so I hear all these stories about the games. A lot of people around me just start talking about this South versus Central rivalry, and there’s still like a hatred and like bad blood between a bunch of 40-year-olds.”
While they may be surrounded by fans of both schools that wax nostalgic about battles of years past, this week’s game carries a different meaning for the participants.
“We grew up with those guys,” South junior running back Armane Redmond said of their Central counterparts. “We’re all buddies, but when we get on that field, it’s really a battlefield.
“To have that opportunity again, it’s really good. I like it.”
