The first of seven state football championships will be decided tonight when SEM faces Stuart for the NSAA six man football title at Cope Stadium on the campus of UNK in Kearney. It’s been another amazing season for the SEM Mustangs who won the six man championship in 2023 and are currently on a 23 game winning streak. SEM went through the regular season unbeaten and have advanced through the playoffs with wins over Wauneta-Palisade, Diller-Odell, and Garden County. SEM head coach Shane Hrasky visited with KCNI/KBBN sports this week and talked about this year’s journey and how it has come together to have the opportunity to play in another state championship game.
“I mean every year it’s kind of the same thing, you lose starters from the year before so you have a lot of spots to fill in. We had a lot of good returning starters and we some spots to fill so between shuffling guys around at the start of the year and working guys in we fought through some injuries this year so we had some younger guys step in and play throughout the year. They got some good quality minutes so you had a different combination of things but we kind of feel like we have the right guys in the right positions now so hopefully it will work out for us.”
The week leading up to a state championship game brings with it the addition of outside distractions such as an increase in media coverage. Coach Hrasky said experiencing that a year ago has helped navigating through that this season.
“Yeah it has. I mean last year it was all new, new to everybody, new to the coaches, new to the players. I mean building up to the championship week, this week especially, between all of the interviews and having cameras at practice. All the distractions and a lot of new stuff. Yeah, everybody is just a little more comfortable this year. Doesn’t make things easier but everybody’s a little more comfortable and not as nervous this year, a lot more settled in.”
SEM will face Stuart for the six man championship. It’s the second meeting between the two this season. It was SEM’s closest game of the season and Stuart’s only loss of the season with the Mustangs winning 36-33. Coach Hrasky said today’s matchup should be another close, competitive game.
“Stuart’s a good team. They’re very well coached. That first game was close. It could have went either way. Nobody really had control the whole game. We’re real familiar with them, they’re real familiar with us. There’s not a whole lot of secrets between us so should be one heck of a game on Friday night.”
Today’s six man championship between SEM and Stuart will be broadcast on KBBN 95.3 FM. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH SEM COACH SHANE HRASKY
