Hays High came out firing on all cylinders against rival Great Bend, even without starting quarterback Dylan Dreiling on Friday, Sept. 11 in Great Bend.

It took one play for junior Jaren Kanak to run a 43-yard jet sweep to put six points on the board for the Indians. The next drive for the Indians was a combined effort from junior running back Roy Moroni and junior quarterback Jordan Dale, rushing for 47 yards that was finished with a 26-yard touchdown run from Dale. On the next drive, Dale ran the ball 47 yards to score again. In three drives, the Indians pushed the score to 22-0 on the Panthers.

In the second quarter, senior cornerback Brett Orth intercepted a pass for the Indians, his first career interception. On the next drive, the Great Bend offense would find success running a flea flicker to get into the red zone for the first time, and the Panthers quarterback completed a 10-yard pass to score Great Bend’s first touchdown of the year. Great Bend would claw back on the next drive, as their quarterback connected with a wide receiver to make the score 22-14 at halftime.

To open the second ha/lf, Dale would run 61 yards to the house to make the score 29-14. The Indian defense then made a key stop to force the Panthers to turn the ball over on downs at the Indian 12-yard line to end the quarter.

In the final stretch of the game, the Indians scored with a 65-yard touchdown by junior Carson Kieffer, and Dale made one final statement against the Panthers, running a 40-yard touchdown to put the Indians up by four touchdowns. The Indian defense would force Great Bend to turn over the ball over on their final offensive drive of the game to end the game with a Hays High victory, 43-14.

Indians moved to 2-0 in the season, with their next game being Senior Night at home on Sept. 18.

Most notable stats of the night came from Indian announcer Dustin Armbruster.

Jordan Dale is the first quarterback since 2014 to beat Hays High alum Alex Delton’s record of recording more than 200 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Dale ended the game with 229 yards, rushing on 12 carries and four rushing touchdowns. Dale also finished the game with 65 passing yards and one throwing touchdown.

The Indians moved to 2-0 for the first time since the 2014 Indian team.

Running back Roy Moroni ended the game with 113 yards.

Senior Brett Orth had his first interception.

Senior Tucker Veach recorded a forced fumble.

Senior Bill Scott had a fumble recovery.

21csanders@usd489.com