BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
OLATHE — For the second straight week, Great Bend's Hayden Kelly delivered a highlight-reel play. Kelly dashed 80 yards on a pass from Daxton Minton on the Panthers' first play to spark a dominating 40-21 non-league football victory over 6A Olathe South.
"Hayden has shown his ability in the open field. Hayden did a great job turning a 'stick route' into a vertical push," said Great Bend football coach Erin Beck. "Daxton Minton made a great throw. He's at his best when he's add-libbing."
Kelly dazzling 98-yard touchdown return off a blocked field goal was negated on a blocking penalty.
The Panthers (2-0) produced a trio of additional big-play touchdowns. Cooper Ohmacht sprinted 34 yards for a score. Jaxon Wondra returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown. Conner Holladay capped a career best 181-yard night with an 83-yard touchdown run.
Wondra's alert interception return was a wild play where Olathe South punter Seth Pfeuffer flipped a left-handed pass that was returned 44 yards for a score.
The Panthers rushed for 304 yards behind solid offensive line play. Minton added 177 yards passing for a 481-yard offensive night. Minton passed the career 3,000-yard barrier with 37 passing touchdowns.
The Panthers' offensive line of center Carter Brown, guards Trenton Kern and Jace Deines and tackles Blaine Ensley and Keeton Bray set the tone.
"Up front, our offensive line did a nice job. Our guys adapted well," Beck said "Conner Holladay did a nice job getting yards when we needed it. Daxton ran so well tonight with chunk-play after chunk-play."
After leading 34-0, Olathe South closed with a trio of touchdowns.
"It was a good hard football game. The defense played clean, hard football at the point of contact," Beck said. "Their quarterback did a good job with their read option plays. We kept hitting him because he's a tough kid."
Olathe South's Julius Wright raced 52 yards for a score for a 143-yard night. Omar Hasian added a 2-yard scoring run.
Great Bend struggled with the kickoff game. Olathe South's Anthony Harris returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. The Falcons recovered an onside kickoff. The Panthers handed the Falcons valuable field position with short kickoffs after touchdowns.
Great Bend 14 14 6 6 — 40
Olathe South 0 0 7 14 — 21
GB—Hayden Kelly 80 pass from Daxton Minton (Ian Premer pass from Minton)
GB—Cooper Ohnmacht 34 run (Koehn Ribordy kick)
GB—Conner Holladay 3 run (Ribordy kick)
GB—Jaxon Wondra 58 interception return (Ribordy kick)
GB—Ian Premer 2 run (pass fails)
OS—Julius Wyatt 52 run (Seth Pfeuffer kick)
GB—Holladay 83 run (kick fails)
OS—Anthony Harris 84 kickoff return (Pfeuffer kick)
OS—Omar Hasian 2 run (Pfeuffer kick)
RUSHING—GB—40-304; Holladay 23-189; Minton 8-69; Ohnmacht 1-34; Ian Premer 2-7; Blake Suppes 3-7; team 3-(-3); OS—42-280; Wyatt 16-143; Gage Lee 15-68; Hasian 4-44; Justus Sprague 4-13.
PASSING—GB—Minton 11-16-0, 177; OS—Lee 3-10-1 28; Pfeuffer 0-1-1.
RECEIVING—GB—Hayden Kelly 1-80; Ian Premer 4-58; Holladay 1-20; Hall 2-9; Ohnmacht 3-10; OS—Trae Hayes 2-24; Will Yeldell 1-4.
