GYPSUM — For all the unknowns surrounding Southeast of Saline’s football team heading into the 2026 season —a first-time head coach and nine new starters on both offense and defense — the Trojans had one thing that money can’t buy.

Namely, a deeply imbedded track record of success.

Not only were the Trojans coming off back-to-back Class 2A state finals appearances, including a championship in 2024, but they hadn’t lost a regular season game since their senior class was in the fifth grade.

“It definitely gave me that example, that extra drive that I needed for not just my team and I, but the community around us and our parents, the staff members that build us up and do things that benefit us as a team,” said senior Casson Klover, a first-year starter at both wide receiver and cornerback. “Just being around that culture and having that drive through Southeast really helped.”

While the Trojans have yet to display the dominance that resulted in a combined 25-1 record over the past two seasons, neither have they significantly regressed. Yes, a 51-game regular-season winning streak ended two weeks ago with a 24-14 loss at Marysville, but they have passed every other test on the way to a 4-1 record.

Chance Ptacek, who ascended to the head coaching job after 16 years as an assistant under Mitch Gebhardt, was as curious as anyone to see how his team could handle the transition. Not just the roster turnover, but also the built-in expectations that come with success.

Head coach Chance Ptacek

“We’ve had a lot of kids step up,” said Ptacek, whose Trojans followed the Marysville loss with a 22-14 come-from-behind at Wichita Collegiate and face another major test Friday when they play host to unbeaten Council Grove. “We’re still kind of figuring out Friday nights collectively, but a lot of kids are stepping up, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The Trojans got off on the right foot in the season opener by rallying from a 22-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to edge Beloit, 24-22, at home. Beloit has not lost since and is ranked No. 7 in 2A, with Southeast two spots back at No. 9.

Senior Tiernan Ptacek

“It shows that we have a lot of heart, and we’re really resilient and we don’t give up,” quarterback and free safety Tiernan Ptacek, the coach’s son and one of Southeast’s two returning starters, said of the Beloit comeback. “We may be down, but we’re not going to give up, and we’re going to keep fighting because winning is our mentality, and that’s what we want to do.”

After following that with blowout victories over Lyons (55-6) and Ellsworth (48-9), before stubbing its toe against Marysville, Southeast another gut check moment against Collegiate, which scored early in the second half to go up 14-0. Again, the Trojans battled back.

“They scored on the first play to start the game and then their second play to start the second half,” Chance Ptacek said. “But we talked to the kids before the game that there were a lot of people interested to see how we responded to that Marysville loss, and it was a great opportunity for our boys.”

“Things didn’t go well earl, but our kids continued to fight and pulled off that win against a good 3A Collegiate team. Hopefully, it gives us a little boost heading into the rest of district play.”

With the loss, Collegiate fell to 1-4, but three of its losses came against ranked teams, including Andale (No. 1 in 3A) and Wellington (No. 7 in 4A), plus Southeast and a 3-2 Rose Hill team from Class 3A.

Although the recent run of success has set a high standard for this year’s team, it also has had a hidden benefit that might be even more instrumental. By reaching the state finals in each of the past two years, the Trojans have played 10 postseason games, resulting in that many extra weeks of practice.

Senior Lyric Lilley

“That’s very helpful with all the sophomores and freshmen getting all those extra reps at practice,” said senior fullback/tight end Lyric Lilley, who stepped into the starting lineup this season after serving as a key backup on the state runner-up team. “Because when we watched film on Mondays, a lot of the youngers guys would go out and run our offense and get all the plays down and know what to do.”

That certainly has not been lost on the elder Ptacek.

“You think about our team this year, these kids a lot of them didn’t necessarily see the field the last year or two, but with those long playoff runs, they’ve gotten almost another full season of practice against state champion and state runner-up teams,” he said. “So, these kids have gotten a lot of extra added practice the last couple of years.”

Despite the 4-1 record, there have been some growing pains along the way. On offense, the Trojans had to replace 2,000-yard rusher Grady Gebhardt, who also was their leading receiver.

Tiernan Ptacek has taken up some of the slack with a team-high 420 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, though not all on designed runs, while passing for 933 yards and 10 scores. Junior Tyson Keller (420 yards, one TD), senior Lavone Hopkins (63 yards, one TDs) and sophomore Christian Peterson (65 yards, two scores) have shared the running back position behind a line led by returning left tackle Tristan Swank.

Klover leads the receiving corps with 18 catches for 390 yards and six touchdowns, followed by Lilley with 13 receptions.

“I feel like our defense doing what we’ve done has helped our offense be able to stay in these games and has allowed us to have those comebacks,” said Tiernan Ptacek, who has two of the team’s three interceptions.

Swank leads the Trojans with 11 tackles for loss from his defensive end position, while senior linebacker Jayden Kloster has 45 total tackles, sophomore safety Burton Brooks 41 and senior linebacker Josh Watkins 40.

Senior Casson Klover

“On defense, we have our saying, 1-11,” Klover said. “Each 11 guys does their one job, and so we try to stay to our own role on the defensive side of the ball, and that stays pretty consistent.”

The Trojans showed their mettle by rallying past Collegiate last week, but Council Grove presents yet another challenge. After dropping their district opener against Marysville, they do not want to fall to 0-2.

“Council Grove is solid,” Chance Ptacek said of the No. 3 Braves, Southeast’s third ranked opponent so far. “They’re big and athletic, so our kids are excited for this opportunity this week.”

One thing is certain, Lilley said. The Trojans will not be intimidated.

“I think we still need to work and get better to prove ourselves,” he said. “This week’s a good week against Council Grove, and I think if we can show some good stuff and go get the W, which will help with our rankings.”

“All year we’ve been talking about a don’t flinch mentality, and I think that’s reflected in our comebacks. We’re going to keep working hard to get that W.”