Watch the six-man football championship live on News Channel Nebraska at 6:40 p.m. CT on Friday.

SUMNER, Neb. — As head football coach at Sumner-Eddyville-Miller, Shane Hrasky has always preached toughness.

And this season, he lived out one of his program’s core values.

“A couple months ago working cattle, I smashed my leg between a calf and the trailer,” Hrasky said.

He broke his femur and tore some leg muscles, leading to a nine-week stint on crutches.  

“The week it happened, I went to practice, made it to the game," Hrasky said. "We had a bye week the next week, I stayed home, elevated and iced.”

His players took note of his dedication to the team.

“He showed us what a tough guy really is," senior Maddox Jones said. "He was supposed to be gone for two weeks, we got lucky that it was during our bye week, so he took the first week off but he wasn’t going to stay off that second week. He really wanted to be here for us.”

“He’s kind of showing us what he’s about," senior Cohen Rohde said. "If he could be here, he would be. He’s shown that to us this year.”

Hrasky’s limp hasn’t caused the Mustangs to break their stride. S-E-M is 11-0 and heading to Kearney trying to defend its six-man football state title.

Senior Maddox Jones liked the taste of gold and dedicated his offseason to helping get back to the title game.

“I just decided that I was going to be bigger, faster, stronger than everybody," Jones said. "So I was at the weight room all summer and I was going to do any position coach needed me to.”

His commitment paid off. Jones has racked up a team-high 98 tackles on defense while running for nearly 1300 yards and 29 touchdowns on offense.

And he may have had some jokes when he’s run by his stationary coach.

“Yeah, they asked me from the start if I was hurt or injured," Hrasky said. "I heard a lot of rub some dirt on it and stuff like that.”

Whether they’re walking or crutching to the bus on Friday night, S-E-M hopes it’s with another championship trophy in hand.

“It would mean the world to all of us," Jones said. "We all are really wanting to get this done with this team. This is a very special team.”