Salina Central Pulls Away Late to Defeat Hutchinson on The Road

By Jacob Simpson October 10, 2026

Picture courtesy of Tanner Colvin

FINAL:

CENTRAL 36

HUTCHINSON 27

Salina central (3-2) hit the road Friday night to take on the Hutchinson Salwthawks (1-4) looking to pick up its first road win of the season.

The first half was a back and forth battle with each team trading punches. Hutchinson got the scoring started on its opening drive of the game as QB Davin Morgan scampered in from 13 yards out for a touchdown, giving the Salthawks an early 7-0 lead. The Mustangs responded quickly with a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Trae Wise to tie the game 7–7.

Hutchinson wasted no time responding once again as QB Davin Morgan connected for a 50-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the second quarter. The Mustangs scored the final two touchdowns of the first half. Quarterback Griffin Hall collected two touchdown passes in the second quarter, one to Eli Kreighbaum and another one to Akeem Anderson. Salina Central took a 20-14 lead heading into halftime.

The second half was back and forth once again, with each team scoring on its first drive of the second half. Mustang quarterback Griffin Hall punched it in from 6 yards out for his seventh rushing touchdown of the season to give the Mustangs a 27-14 lead, despite two offensive penalties on the drive. Hutchinson responded with a touchdown drive of their own, aided by four defensive penalties by Central. It was back to a one possession game, 27-21 at the end of three quarters.

The fourth quarter continued the excitement as the Mustangs opened the quarter with a 34-yard field goal by Ethan Gragg to make it a two possession game once again. Salina Central then came up with a massive fourth-and one stop on defense to turn Hutchinson over on downs late in the fourth quarter before punching it in the end zone one last time on an 11-yard run by running back Trae Wise.

The Salthawks scored a late touchdown with 12 seconds to play but it was too little too late. The Mustangs picked up the road victory 36-27 to improve to 4-2 on the season while Hutchinson dropped to 1-5 overall.