Story by Jason Strickland, Sports Editor—
Twenty-three football seniors will suit up at Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field for the final time Saturday against Nebraska-Kearney (1-7, 1-7).
“My last time in the stable…it’s time to go, it’s time to let everybody know the legacy that we are trying to leave,” senior tight end David Cannon said.
Senior linebacker Joe Carter said he is just going to take it all in this week, and next week at Fort Hays State (3-5, 3-5).
“It’s just crazy,” Carter said. “I feel like I just got here and now I’m just about to leave. So I’m just trying to soak up these last two weeks.”
The chances of reaching a playoff game are slim for the Mules (5-3, 5-3), since they are outside the top 10 in Super Region Three. Six teams in each of the four regions make the playoffs.
Carter said proving they belong in the postseason starts with practice.
“We just have to work extra hard in practice these last two weeks, so when the game comes, we can just show that we should be in the playoffs,” Carter said. “We’ve got to blow these teams out, so we just need to work extra hard in practice.”
Cannon said his favorite moment at Central was making the playoffs in 2010, and he explained what this team needs to do in order to have that chance.
“We just need to bind to the system and keep working hard,” Cannon said. “It really isn’t like a flaw in what we’ve been doing, it’s just once everything comes together we can play like we know we can.”
The Mules are coming off a 24-23 loss at Northeastern State (1-6, 1-6) last Saturday, so Cannon said focus will be key this week.
“We need to be more focused on what they [Nebraska-Kearney] do and what they are good at…we don’t need to pay attention to records as much and second guess teams,” Cannon said.
For Carter, head coach Jim Svoboda has been the biggest part of his collegiate career.
“I personally feel like if it wasn’t for Svoboda, I wouldn’t be playing,” Carter said. “When Svoboda came it kind of changed this whole atmosphere… You can go talk to Svoboda about football or just on personal stuff. You don’t feel scared or nervous to go talk to him on anything, or any of the coaches.”
The game starts at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and a Mules win would be the first time they have gone undefeated at home since 2009 – the season before Svoboda came to Central.
“To be able to say that we were the first to do it for a long time, that would be a huge accomplishment for us,” Carter said.