BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
GARDEN CITY — Great Bend blocked two Garden City punts for touchdowns to roar past the Buffaloes 42-6 in Friday's Western Conference football game. Jacob Hall blocked and returned the kick 14 yards for a score. Michael Montoya recovered the second blocked punt in the end zone.
Great Bend (8-0, 4-0 WAC) clinch the No. 1 West 5A seed to insure home-field advantage in the playoffs. Garden City drops to 2-6, 0-4 WAC.
"Our blocked punts really opened things up," said Great Bend coach Erin Beck. "We accomplished our goal to close out the WAC 4-0. That's a big accomplishment that sets us up for a No. 1 seed. We've gained home-field advantage in the playoffs."
The Panthers play Newton (0-8) in Friday's first playoff round.
The Buffaloes gained 56 yards rushing on 35 attempts after losing 47 yards on two botched snaps. Quarterback Landon Moquette completed 3 of 17 passes for 24 yards. Panther Kenton Grauerholz sacked Moquette on the final play of the ballgame.
"I loved our matchup with our defense against their offense and that's what happened," Beck said. "We took control from the get-go and took care of business. We stayed locked in."
Tailback Jace Schartz scored on an opening 75-yard dash and added 1-and 11-yard scores. Schartz rushed for 166 yards and the Panthers pounded out 207 yards with eight runners contributing.
Quarterback Daxton Minton was efficient as usual with 10 of 13 completions for 95 yards. Ian Premer missed a career highlight when his 11-yard halfback pass to Hayden Kelly was ruled out-of-bounds. The Panthers led 28-0 at halftime and Minton threw one pass after halftime.
Panther tackle Owen Kaiser recovered a fumble that teammates Aidan Davidson and Conner Holladay forced against Moquette.
The Panthers managed 302 yards offense.
"There's still things to work on," Beck said. "Our offense started clicking a little bit after we figured out what they were doing on our zone runs."
Garden City's hard-running Culden Plankenhorn converted a 2-yard touchdown and rushed for 75 yards on 16 carries from shotgun formation.
Great Bend 21 7 14 0 — 42
Garden City 0 0 6 0 — 6
GB—Jace Schartz 75 run (Diego Soto kick); GB—Jacob Hall 14 blocked punt return (Soto kick); GB—Schartz 1 run (Soto kick); GB—Kale Kern 6 run (Soto kick); GB—Michael Montoya blocked punt recovery (Soto kick); GB—Schartz 11 run (Soto kick); GC—Culden Plankenhorn 2 run (kick blocked)
RUSHING—GB—33-207; Schartz 18-166; Josh Birney 4-26; Ian Premer 2-10; K. Kern 2-13; Cooper Ohnmacht 1-3; Conner Holladay 1-2; Cal Schartz 1-0; Daxton Minton 2-(-3); team 1-(-10); GC—35-56; Plankenhorn 16-75; Carr 6-37; Villalobos 5-18; Landon Moquette 6-(-27); team 2-(-47)
PASSING—GB—Minton 10-13-0, 95; Premer 0-1-0; Ohnmacht 0-1-0; GC—Moquette 3-17-0, 24
RECEIVING—GB—Ohmacht 3-33; Premer 2-21; Hall 2-12; Hayden Kelly 2-25; Holladay 1-4; GC—Carr 2-13, Villalobos 1-11
5A WEST FIRST ROUND
No. 1 Great Bend 8-0 vs. Newton 0-8
No. 8 Andover 4-4 vs. Hays High 4-4
No. 4 Hutchinson 6-2 vs. Salina South 1-7
No. 5 Liberal 6-2 vs. Wichita Carroll 2-6
No. 2 Goddard Eisenhower 6-2 vs. Emporia 0-8
No. 7 Maize South 5-3 vs. Salina Central 4-4
No. 3 Topeka Seaman 6-2 vs. Topeka West 1-7
No. 6 Goddard 6-2 vs. Valley Center 2-6
5A EAST FIRST ROUND
No. 1 Aquinas 8-0 vs. KC Turner 0-8
No. 8 Highland Park 6-2 vs. Pittsburg 6-2
No. 4 Mill Valley 7-1 vs. KC Harmon 2-6
No. 5 Spring Hill 7-1 vs. Shawnee Heights 2-6
No. 2 DeSoto 7-1 vs. BV North 1-7
No. 7 KC Washington 6-2 vs. Leavenworth 5-3
No. 3 Basehor Linwood 7-1 vs. BV Southwest 2-6
No. 6 Blue Valley 6-2 vs. Lenexa St. James 3-5
