BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtrribune.com
MCPHERSON – Time-after-time, state-ranked McPherson appeared to secure a knockout blow against the Great Bend football team in Friday’s 2022 season opener.
Great Bend coach Erin Beck liked how his team kept responding in a hard-fought 44-27 setback to 4A state-ranked McPherson Friday.
Tailback Cody Miller rushed for 127 yards and two scores. Braylon Council scored on a 31-yard pass reception with 94 yards receiving. Quarterback Cayden Scheuerman passed for 147 yards and added 84 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The Panthers offensive front of center Danny Nieto, guards Matthew Johnson and Aiden Davidson and tackles Mathew Moeder and Brantley Schaffer paved the way for a 211-yard rushing night.
“Our guys up front opened holes and Cody Miller is a super elusive back,” said Beck. “How Braylon Council forces the defense to defend him opened up our run game. We ran the football really well.”
The Panthers executed a nice screen game at times. However, the passing game misfired at times with 14 of 31 passing.
“We weren’t consistent with our passing game,” Beck said. “We got off schedule when we threw downs away. It looked like Braylon had openings, but their linebackers flew out on our short passing game.”
The Bullpups roared to a 27-7 halftime lead keyed by a pair of game-changing scores.
Luke Schroeder sprinted 76 yards for a touchdown after teammate Cade Wedel blocked Alex Galindo’s 34-yard field goal attempt for a 10-point swing. McPherson quarterback Hunter Alvord scored on a 72-yard cutback run to the weak side for a 20-0 lead.
Outside of two big touchdown plays, the Panther defense competed with spirit. Aiden Davidson’s fumble recovery set up a second-half score. Mathew Moeder recovered a fumble. The Panthers held the Bullpups to three field goals after drives inside the 20-yard line.
“Defensively, we played really well,” Beck said. “We had a bunch of players in new spots. We got behind the 8 ball with our turnovers. We held them to 3. Their placekicker was good with big field goals.”
The Panthers climbed within two scores three times after halftime. Up 30-14, McPherson received a huge call in their favor after Noah Jerke’s crisp tackle on Tucker Pelnar. Jerke was congratulated by happy teammates, but an official threw a 15-yard flag for interpreting the Panthers’ celebration as “taunting.”
McPherson’s Alvord showed his ability with a 185-yard passing night and a touchdown and 143 rushing and two touchdowns.
“McPherson is a tough opener. That’s a good football team that’ll win a lot of games,” Beck said. “We never doubt that our players will play hard to the end. They give it everything. We need to play more consistent football and make more plays.”
Great Bend 0 7 7 13 – 27
McPherson 10 17 3 14 – 44
MC—Hoover 23 FG, 9:33
MC—Schroeder 76 field goal return (Hoover kick), 2:03
MC—Hoover 23 FG, 10:49
MC—Alvord 72 run (Hoover kick), 8:57
GB—Miller 10 run (Galindo kick), 4:36
MC—Alvord 11 run (Hoover kick), 1:38
GB—Miller 30 run (Galindo kick), 11:11
MC—Hoover 31 FG, 6:21
MC—Gottwald 4 run (Hoover kick), 6:52
GB—Council 31 pass from Scheuerman (Galindo kick), 3:32
MC—Pelnar 51 pass form Alvord (Hoover kick), 2:41
GB—Scheuerman 5 run (kick failed), 1:02
RUSHING—GB—35-211; Miller 20-127; Scheuerman 15-84; MC—30-191; Alvord 13-143, Gumm 7-33, Gottwald 8-18, team 2-(-5)
PASSING—GB—Scheuerman 14-31-2, 147; MC—Alvord 12-18-0, 185
RECEIVING— GB—Council 7-94, Miller 3-18, Spray 3-18, Brack 1-7; MC—Pelnar 6-111, Muehler 2-29, Gottwald 1-27, Hoover 2-14, Lyon 1-4
