Pictured: Salina Central seniors Warrick VanBlaricon (left) and Parker Pinks
More than eight months have passed since Salina Central football ended its 20-year state championship drought, but for Mustang offensive lineman Parker Pinks, the memory is still fresh.
“It was amazing,” Pinks said. “It felt surreal.”
But don’t think for a minute, he added, that the 2026 Mustangs players saw their 51-34 victory over Basehor-Linwood in the Class 5A finals as an ending. If anything, they’re treating it as a springboard to the season ahead.
“I feel like there’s pretty big expectations for us, especially with last year, and there were a lot of people doubting us last year,” said Pinks, a 6-foot-4, 301-pound senior and one of three returning starters on the offensive line. “I think it just drives us a little more.”
Salina Central offensive lineman Parker Pinks
If Central is thinking big again in 2026, the offensive line is as good a place to start as any. While the Mustangs lost all-state left tackle Kaden Snyder and mainstay guard Saijon Mills from an offense that averaged better than 450 yards per game, they bring back a solid senior foundation in Pinks, tackle Warrick VanBlaricon and guard Reyce Kelley.
“I feel like we have a really good work ethic throughout our team, and we have a lot of chemistry,” said the 6-4, 285-pound VanBlaricon, who this summer committed to Central Missouri. “We’ve played with each other since around sixth grade, and we’re like family.”
No doubt the Mustangs have big holes to fill with Snyder (6-5, 295) moving on to the Kansas Jayhawks and Mills (6-0, 265) signing as a track and field thrower with Central Missouri. But Central coach Mark Sandbo isn’t worried.
“We’re going to be big next year, too,” said Sandbo, who is starting his ninth year with the Mustangs. “The guys that we think are going to plug in and play are good-sized linemen. They’ll look the part of 5A linemen for sure.”
“What typical good programs have is some guys at the sub-varsity level, and we kind of have them across the board. We had to replace 18 really good seniors, but up front, some guys who’ve been doing it at a high level at the sub-varsity and now are getting called up, we probably have a mix of three guys that we feel like we could plug in and play.”
With Pinks moving from center to right tackle and VanBlaricon from right tackle to left, that leaves Kelley the likely starter at left guard with center and right guard up for grabs.
“Somebody like Philip McGee (5-11, 235 junior) and somebody like Stratton Cole (5-9, 215 junior) being able to come in and pick up where maybe not the level that Saijon and Kaden played at, being three-year guys and Power Four kid and Division II track and field thrower, but they’ll do it awfully well, I’m sure,” Sandbo said.
In addition to two linemen on offense, the Mustangs lose all-state running back Cooper Reves, a 2,800-yard rusher, and their top five receivers from last year, but they return senior quarterback Griffin Hall, who passed for over 1,800 yards and 29 touchdowns and ran for 980 and nine more scores. Plus, senior Alex Garcia is poised to move over from defensive back to running back.
Salina Central offensive lineman Warrick VanBlaricon
VanBlaricon, for one, is confident that the offense has more than enough firepower to keep the ball rolling.
“We return a good amount of people,” he said. “And it’s not even just that, it’s just the sheer amount of talent we have on our team.”
“A bunch of young guys who are hungry and ready to get after it, compared with the older guys who already have gotten after it and want more. I think we’re bound to have a big run and big things happening this year.”
