Picture courtesy of Tanner Colvin

FINAL:

EISENHOWER 22

CENTRAL 20

Coming off a historic offensive performance in Week 3, Salina Central was riding high into its next matchup at Eisenhower. The Mustangs had the chance to start league play 3-0 with a win over the Tigers, a team they beat 49-20 the year before.

After allowing 40 points to Ark City in Week 3, Central’s defense quickly got back to making plays, forcing a fumble on Eisenhower’s opening drive. Unfortunately, the Mustangs went 3-and-out and threw an interception on their next two drives.

The offense, which had looked like a well-oiled machine all season, broke through at the start of the second quarter when Griffin Hall found his new starting running back Eli Kreighbaum for a 12-yard touchdown.

Both teams proceeded to turn each other away on 4th down and after Central gave Eisenhower prime field position at the 50-yard line, the Tigers wasted no time and took a shot. Braeden Schulte hit Braylon Lies for a 50-yard touchdown and after a successful two-point conversion they had the lead 8-7.

Central then drove the length of the field into Eisenhower territory despite penalties and negative plays forcing them to play from behind the sticks. They overcame the Tigers stout defense again with a 4th-and-8 throw toward the end zone which Tucker Rice grabbed out the air from 23 yards out to give Central the lead again 14-8.

Eisenhower had shown they could score quickly with heads-up play calling, but could they go the length of the field with just over two minutes left in the first half? The answer was yes.

An 84-yard scoring drive was capped by Braeden Schulte evading pressure and finding Jackson Turner for an 18-yard touchdown with 1.5 seconds left in the second quarter. After another successful two-point conversion, the Tigers led 16-14 at halftime.

To start the second half, Central began to find more success in the run game with Griffin Hall selling handoffs to Eli Kreighbaum before eventually breaking loose for a 41-yard rushing touchdown to again give the Mustangs the lead 20-16.

The defense then turned the Tigers away and the offense looked to take its first two-possession lead of the night. Once inside the Eisenhower 10-yard line, a lighting bolt flashed in the distance and play was forced to stop for just over an hour.

Returning from the delay, Central ran the ball three consecutive times to no avail and turned the ball over on downs. The next two Mustang drives ended with a lost fumble and another turnover on downs.

Eisenhower’s defense made a statement coming out with noticeable energy and intensity after a delay that would’ve left many teams disjointed. It had the opposite effect on the Tigers, they looked fresh and took the lead late in the 4th on a 1-yard rush from Issac Hegarty to make it 22-20.

Central forced an incompletion on the Tigers two-point conversion, leaving the door open for a field goal to win it if they could get within range. With 30 seconds remaining the Mustangs had the ball at the 29-yard line, but faced 4th-and-8. Instead of letting the game come down to a final play, the field goal unit came on. Central’s Ethan Gragg lined up behind a 39-yard field goal for the lead, but came up short.

With the loss, Central drops to 2-2 while Eisenhower improves to 3-1, already surpassing its win total from 2025.