By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Clear the schedule next Friday evening. Hays is coming to town. After a slow first quarter, No. 2 Great Bend powered to a 28-0 halftime lead Friday night against Bishop Carroll en route to a 49-7 win. Hays traveled to Hutchinson to defeat the Salthawks 27-6 to set up Friday’s big state quarterfinal rematch.
“I think it’s something that everybody in the state, and even us, kind of expected,” said Great Bend coach Erin Beck. “Here we go again in round two, and it should be a fun one. It’s two great teams meeting in the playoffs. What more could you ask for? Sounds like there might be a rivalry on the other side with (Salina) South and Central. It’s an exciting time of the year on the west side of the bracket.”
The unbeaten Panthers have rarely faced adversity in the 2025 season. Yet the score remained locked at zero Friday night heading into the second quarter. Carroll tried to strike first, but a 36-yard field goal attempt came up a few feet shy of going through midway through the first quarter.
Then the Great Bend offense sprang to life. On the first play of the third possession of the night, senior Ian Premer took a direct snap and ran 81 yards largely untouched to put the Panthers on the board just 55 seconds into the period.
The Golden Eagles were forced to punt on their next possession. Panther senior Daxton Minton took the next play from scrimmage 34 yards, then Premer capped a quick drive with an 8-yard touchdown run. Great Bend pulled ahead 14-0 just two minutes into the second quarter.
“The first quarter was 0-0, and that’s something we haven’t seen a lot of,” Beck said. “Our kids did a really nice job of establishing the run game and ran the ball really well, especially cut back. We’re overplaying the outside zone, and when you’ve got kids like Ian and Daxton, they can just change the scoreboard really quick.”
After a mess of penalties that resulted in 1st-and-33 for Carroll, and a Koehn Ribordy interception and long return that was called back on a penalty, the Golden Eagles were again forced to punt. Minton ran the next play 59 yards to the house for a 21-0 Panther lead.
Carroll was moving the ball on the next drive behind back-up quarterback Jonah Mull, who had just completed a 34-yard pass to senior Nick Wineland. Panther junior Cooper Ohnmacht ended that drive on the next play by intercepting a tipped ball.
Great Bend strung together its best drive of the night to end the half. Premer took another direct snap to the Eagle 1-yard line for the final play of the half. Minton punched that in to give the Panthers a 28-0 cushion heading into the break.
Behind Premer and Minton, the Panthers rushed for 241 yards and four touchdowns on just 18 carries in the first half. The Great Bend defense held Carroll to just 153 yards, and the Golden Eagles did not score against the first-string defense.
“They played outstanding, kind of what they’ve done all year long," said Beck. "They came out with that fire and intensity. They played with a lot of emotion tonight. Really, it was a Carroll team that we knew was going to run the football a lot; inside power, counter, they were switching up quarterbacks. The kid came back in who hadn’t played since week two. Our kids just did an outstanding job all night long.”
Minton broke off another big 57-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half. Senior Conner Holladay took over from there with touchdown runs of three and 43 yards. His biggest run set the clock into motion for good with a 49-0 Panther lead with 11:19 to play. Carroll senior Wyatt Sauber scored the final points of the night from a yard out in the final four minutes.
A week after rushing for 131 yards and two scores on just two carries, Minton piled up 174 more rushing yards and three scores on just eight carries. He threw for another 55 yards on 6-of-11 passing. Premer added 142 yards and two touchdowns on his 10 carries, and Holladay added 63 yards and a pair of scores on six attempts. Freshman kicker Giovanni Cruz went a perfect 7-for-7 on PAT attempts.
Mull threw for 74 yards with an interception on 8-of-12 passing. Senior John Corrigan added 53 yards on 5-of-13 passing in the first half. Mull also led the Golden Eagles with 75 rushing yards on 13 carries.
Carroll ends a bounce-back season at 6-4. Great Bend moves to 10-0 and plays host to Hays (8-2) next Friday at Memorial Stadium. The Panthers defeated the Indians 43-19 on Oct. 17 in one of the biggest games in Kansas this fall.