By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School's Class of '25 had yet to beat Hays on the gridiron. Other than a 28-27 loss at Hays last year, the Panthers were 0-4 and had been outscored 127-21 in the three meetings before 2023. All that changed Friday night at Memorial Field as Great Bend's defense dominated in a 21-0 win.
"It feels awesome for these seniors," said junior quarterback Daxton Minton, who threw for a touchdown and rushed for another. "These seniors haven't beat them in (four) years. It feels good to get them a win on Senior Night."
After netting just 26 yards on 15 attempts in the first two quarters, Great Bend piled up 174 yards on 17 carries in the second half. Minton busted free on runs of 12 and 22 yards to work the ball near midfield late in the third quarter. Junior Ian Premer took the next handoff 49 yards to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 1:30 to play in the third.
"We just made some adjustments on our blocking schemes and that helped a lot," Minton said. "Our tackles had a heck of a third and fourth quarter."
After forcing the sixth Indian punt of the night early in the fourth quarter, Great Bend needed just three plays before Minton found space on his own sideline and ran 63 yards to the house for the final points of the night with 10:08 remaining.
The Panther defense bent but did not break on two occasions. Late in the first half, Hays worked picked up a first down at the Great Bend 5-yard line. A dropped pass ultimately forced a fourth down when Premer used all six feet, six inches to break up a pass and force a turnover on downs. In the third quarter, Premer again used his length to block a 22-yard field goal attempt.
The Indians finished with just 236 yards of total offense on the night. Forty-one of those yards came on one run from junior Holden Lind, who finished with 121 yards on 22 carries.
"Our defense played I think the best game they've played all year," Minton said. "They locked them down."
Seven of the first eight possessions in the game ended in a punt. Hays senior Wyatt Kirkpatrick recovered a fumble on the third Panther drive. But the Panthers got a nice punt return from sophomore Cooper Ohnmacht midway through the second quarter. Facing fourth-and-20 a few plays later, Minton found Ohnmacht in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard strike to put Great Bend ahead 7-0 with 5:36 left in the first half.
Minton threw the ball just four times in the second half but finished with 100 yards and the touchdown on 9-of-16 passing. He netted minus three yards on eight carries in the first half but rushed for 104 yards on six attempts in the second half. Premer added 81 yards on seven carries on the night.
Great Bend moves to 7-0 on the season. Hays falls to 4-3 with losses to Derby and Manhattan, the top-two teams in Class 6A, and the Panthers.