GREAT BEND (0-1) AT HAYS (1-0)
RADIO—104.3 FM
TV—hayspost.com
BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
The Great Bend Panthers shift from the frying pan into the football fire.
After losing their opener 32-0 to Maize South, the Panthers start Western Athletic Conference play Friday at Hays High, which beat Wichita East 35-6.
The challenge starts with Hays Indian quarterback Jaren Kanak, a Clemson signee. Kanak rushed for 240 yards and scored on runs of 17, 54 and 58 yards Friday. He completed a school-record 98-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Dale which broke Kanak’s 97-yard reception.
Great Bend coach Erin Beck said Kanak is faster than Iowa State Heisman Trophy candidate Breese Hall, who played high school football at Wichita Northwest.
“We’ve seen good athletes over the years, but Kanak is the fastest athlete,” Beck said. “We knew he’d be special. He possesses physical tools head and shoulders above most players.”
Beck said Hays coach Tony Crough runs power plays and counters with Kanak.
“They’ll snap to Kanak and let him run the football,” Beck said. “They’ve got other guys who run the football. Their tailback Malik Bah is shifty.”
The Panthers’ earned interceptions by Paco Hernandez, Brad Beck, Cayden Scheuerman and Skyler McMullen. Beck had 10 tackles and Evan Wedel had nine stops.
“Our front three Scott Heilman, Jade Poe and Dee’Onn Jones played really well up front,” Beck said. “Our linebackers performed well. Skyler McMullen did a great job and Paco Hernandez played really well.”
Beck said his only concern is getting everyone lined up properly.
“I was most pleased with our heart and desire to play football. Beck said. “We were slow lining up at times, but we can fix alignments and assignments.”
The Panthers missed scoring twice off goal-line situations and started four drives from inside their own 6-yard line.
“We were in some bad situations which hurts against a pretty good defense,” Beck said. “It’s a matter of stringing good plays together.”
Hays linebackers Gavin Meyers (14 tackles) and Dalton Dale lead the way.
PANTHER OFFENSE—QB 12 Joseph Moeder/4 Cayden Scheuerman; 5 RB Gavin Haberman; 16 Cody Miller; TE 40 Colton Brack; RT 57 Brantley Schaffer; RG 70 R.J. Cook; C 60 Jason Scott; LG Matthew Johnson; LT Anthony Paez; WR 6 Stefan Spray; WR 7 Braylon Council; WR 17 Blaike Parsons
PANTHER DEFENSE—DE 33 Jade Poe; DE 3 Scott Heilman; DT 62 Dee’Onn Jones; SLB 30 Evan Wedel; MLB 13 Mathew Moeder; OLB 11 Johnathan Randall; WLB 27 Chayse Gruber; CB 23 Noah Jerke/7 Brayton Council; CB 1 Skyler McMullen; SS 26 Brad Beck; FS 2 Paco Hernandez
HAYS OFFENSE—QB 7 Jaren Kanak; TB 6 Malik Bah; TE 43 Bryce Salmans; WR 3 Kyreese Groen; WR 4 Carson Kiefferl WR 8 Jordan Dale; LT 71 Quinton McGuire; LG 67 Derrik Riggs; C 76 Karson Russell; RG 50 Gavin Nutting; RT 56 Parker Billinger
HAYS DEFENSE—DE 58 Iden Baalman; DE 68 Grayson Walburn; DT 50 Gavin Nutting; DT 52 Carson Spray; MLB 20 Dalton Dale; MLB 40 Gavin Meyers; OLB 1 Evan Lind; OLB 9 Remy Stull; CB 5 Connor Dreiling; CB 21 Ty Adams; S 45 Wyatt Crane
