Tony Crough’s first year as Great Bend High School Panther football head coach was a success even though the scoreboard may have told a different story. Crough said his team met or exceeded all of his goals for them. “We improved every day, which was our goal all year long,” Crough said. “We had a chance to make the playoffs all the way up to the last quarter of our season,” he said. “Barring injury, we may have made it and had a few more wins along the way. “I really enjoyed my first season as head coach,” Crough noted. “Great Bend has a supportive administration and community that makes it a great place to coach. “We have tough young men who want to win,” he said. “We are excited to get to work this offseason and build on the successes that we had this year.” Crough is also proud of the awards that his players have garnered on the regional level and locally. Jackson Randall, Ty Yager and Zane Pierce were recognized as first-team all stars by the Western Athletic Conference. Honorable mentions went to Thomas Bobbit, Trey Popp, Josh Moran, Alex Deist, Bryce Lytle, Christian Rivas, Nick Gerdes, Jose Batres, Payton Mauler and Wyatt Bryant. Crough recently presented awards that were voted on by team members. They included: Ty Yager, Most Valuable Player; Jackson Randall, Offense MVP; Trey Popp, Interior Offense MVP; Shade Wondra and Thomas Bobbitt, Offense Skill MVP; Bryce Lytle, Offense Underclassman; Zane Pierce, Defense MVP; Interior Defense MVP, Christian Rivas; Nick Gerdes, Defense Skill MVP; Payton Mauler, Defense Underclassman; Mason YellowWolf, Practice Player of the Year; Quinton Elliott, Panther Award; and Josh Moran, IAR Squared Award (for toughness).