After a 1-2 start to the season, the Hays High football team has gone on a three-game winning streak that also features two wins over Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opponents. But now, the Indians will put all that behind them as they focus on their rival Great Bend who enters tonight’s contest undefeated at 6-0. It is arguably going to be the biggest matchup in recent memory between the Indians and Panthers, as this game will put the winner in the driver’s seat to win the WAC championship next week.
The Indians are coming off of a 26-0 win over Dodge City on Homecoming. It was a good team win, as the offense balanced out the game with the run and the pass. Senior quarterback Carter Graham was able to surpass the 100-yard passing mark in the game. Graham also had a touchdown on the ground and through the air to senior Jonathan Cano. Both junior Holden Lind and senior Ian McGuire had over 100 yards on the ground, and they both scored a rushing touchdown.
The defense also did a great job by holding the Red Demons to under 200 yards on the day. Up front, the Indians were led by sophomore Tanner Geist, as he had one of the top performances of his career by finishing with 10 tackles, and he also led the team with two sacks and three TFLs. The pass defense was active as well, but senior Cooper Lindenmeyer stood out above the rest as he got his first interception of the year and recovered a fumble. The Indians will try and take the experience and all the positive things that they did last Friday and transfer it into tonight’s gameplan.
Great Bend escaped with a 14-7 win on the road last week against Liberal. The Panthers scored all their points in the second quarter, and then made a stop at the end of the game to get their sixth win and remain unbeaten.
Just like Hays High did in their last game, Great Bend has been balancing out their offense this entire season, but they primarily rely on the pass game. Junior quarterback Daxton Minton has been the leader of the Panther backfield, as he has thrown for 951 yards on the season, which goes along with 12 touchdowns. The Great Bend backfield also consists of senior running back Jace Schartz who has picked up 513 yards on the ground and has accounted for five of the team’s nine rushing touchdowns. To finish out the offense, the receiver core features two players that have gone for more than 300 yards. That includes sophomore Cooper Ohnmacht with 317 yards and three touchdowns and junior Ian Premer who has 427 yards and seven touchdowns but is also receiving national attention in his recruiting process.
The Great Bend defense has been very aggressive this year as they have recorded 33 TFLs and 19 sacks. The stars on defense mainly consist of the upperclassmen, such as senior Aidan Davidson who leads the team with eight TFLs and seven sacks. Junior Conner Holladay has also made big contributions to the run game with eight sacks and four TFLs. And, to finish it all out, the pass defense is led by junior Jacob Hall who leads in interceptions with three, and fumble recoveries with two. Great Bend has beaten their opponents by an average margin of 21 points, but tonight will be their biggest test of the season.
Tonight will be the 87th all-time meeting between the two schools as the rivalry started in 1921, and the matchup has occurred every year since 1939. Great Bend leads the all-time series 43-42-1, so Hays High can tie that record with a win tonight. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kick at Memorial Stadium at Great Bend High School. If you cannot make it to the game, you can listen to Dustin Armbruster on 96.9 FM or watch on www.hayspost.com if you have a subscription to the live streams on the website.
