BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
The fireworks that blasted off provided a perfect tribute for Great Bend's historic 29-22 quarterfinal playoff victory over Hays High Friday before the largest crowd in school history.
Koehn Ribordy soared into the air to knock down Hays High's pass attempt as the Panthers escaped with a wild win over their Western Athletic Conference rival.
"I swatted it down. It felt like an eternity I was in the air," Ribordy said. "My guy ran across the middle. Thank God, I had my teammates over there to help. We finally closed that game off. We aren't done yet."
Down 29-22, the Indians drove 83 yards to reach the Panther 4-yard line before Ribordy tipping a pass away intended for Alex Loving in the endzone.
"It was an unbelievable game," said Great Bend coach Erin Beck. "Tip your hat to Hays. It was a great rematch between two good teams. To get into the semifinals is quite an accomplishment. These kids need to enjoy and celebrate.”
The Panthers (11-0) reach the state semifinals against Salina Central (10-1) for the fourth time in school history.
Panther Cole Fanshier pressured Hays quarterback Zane Viegra on the final defensive play.
“We did a great job of staying home," Beck said "We set (Jacob Hall) on the edge to give them extra pressure. The defense bowed up when we needed. I’m proud of the way we played winning football down the stretch.”
Hays coach Tony Crough paid tribute to the Panthers.
"That's a championship level defense," Crough said in a post game radio interview. "That's when they're at their best. When you get in the Red Zone, it's hard to score on them. That was a championship level football game."
The Panthers, ahead 23-14, had earlier turned back the Indians at the 3-yard line when Ian Premer deflected a 4th down pass attempt by quarterback Viegra, who caught his own pass for no gain.
On the next play, Hays Indian sparkplug Johnny Rigler recovered a fumble at the 1-yard line. Premer mishandled a shotgun snap at the goal-line. Braxton Basgall scored on a 1-yard run and tossed a 2-point pass to Holden Lind for a 23-22 score.
Great Bend's Cooper Ohnmacht delivered a 51-yard touchdown reception from Daxton Minton for a 29-22 lead with four minutes left. Rigler blocked the crucial extra point.
"I knew I could make a play and Daxton threw a great ball," Ohnmacht said. "That was an electric atmosphere, one of the best football games I've been a part of. I thank our supporters and everyone who's part of this. They play a bigger role than they'll ever know. It's appreciated."
Beck noticed that Ohnmacht had potential to make a big play.
“We saw they were overplaying Ian,” Beck said. “We ran Ian on a speed-out, and it left Cooper 1-on-1. Daxton made a great throw and changed the scoreboard.”
Minton threw three touchdown passes and 155 yards and rushed for 59 yards. Premer rushed for 73 yards and had 84 yards receiving. Ohnmacht had 71 yards receiving.
No one typified the Panthers' fight and heart than Notre Dame commit Ian Premer, who delivered highlight-reel plays on offense and defense. He faced adversity when he dropped the snap and was flagged for a 15-yard penalty.
"That was really fun, my favorite game ever," Premer said. "If stuff goes good, you keep the emotion high. If stuff goes down, keep it high too. You can't let it affect you. You've got to stay focused. It means a lot to win that game like that."
Trenton Kern swung the momentum blocking a punt by Jaxson Chartier out of the end zone for a safety and a 16-14 lead.
"It was a huge game-changer, getting that safety and finally winning that game," Kern said. "We played amazing football. We bent, but we didn't break at the end."
Minton and Premer hooked up a clutch fourth-down conversion and Premer beat Indians Basgall and Jace Myers on an leaping 21-yard touchdown reception for a 23-14 lead.
"Daxton and I have worked on that back-shoulder hundreds of times," Premer said. "He put it right on the spot and I've got to make a play."
The Panthers' big play trio of Premer, Minton and Ohnmacht delivered all 150 yards of first-half offense in a 14-14 tie.
Premer spun 180 degrees and reversed field for a dazzling 31-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead. Minton completed a fourth-down 14-yard conversion to Premer.
Hays benefited from a pass interference flag when Jarek Purdy and Ribordy made contact on a football thrown out of bounds. Viegra completed a perfectly thrown 22-yard touchdown pass to Jared Purdy for a 7-7 tie.
Minton completed a fourth-down 3-yard touchdown pass to Ohnmacht for a 14-7 lead with 52 seconds until halftime.
Lind gashed the Panther defense with a 41-yard dash. Viegra completed a fourth down 9-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Lind for a 14-14 halftime tie.
“That was a huge momentum swing they stole after us scoring before half," Beck said "The way our guys kept their composure at halftime, you felt they’d be alright."
The elusive and cat-quick 5-8, 170-pound Lind rushed for 200 yards on 35 rushing attempts. Hays outgained the Panthers 349-282 and ran 66 offensive plays compared to 43 snaps by the Panthers.
Hays High 0 14 0 8 — 22
Great Bend 7 7 9 6 — 29
GB—Ian Premer 31 run (Giovanni Cruz kick)
H—Jarek Purdy 22 pass from Zane Viegra (Carson Moore kick)
GB—Cooper Ohnmacht 3 pass from Daxton Minton (Cruz kick)
H—Holden Lind 9 pass from Viegra (Moore kick)
GB—Safety (Trenton Kern blocks punt)
GB—Ian Premer 21 pass from Minton (Cruz kick)
H—Braxton Basgall 1 run (Lind pass from Basgall)
GB—Ohnmacht 51 pass from Minton (kick blocked)
RUSHING—H—50-263; Lind 35-200; Basgall 12-51; Brogan Albers 1-7; Jaxson Chartier 1-4; Viegra 1-1; GB—25-127; Premer 12-73; Minton 11-59; Ohnmacht 1-(-4); team 1-(-2).
PASSING—H—Viegra 9-16-0, 86; GB—Minton 13-18-0, 155.
RECEIVING—H—Purdy 6-71; Lind 1-9; Jesse Taggart 1-6; Viegra 1-0; GB—Premer 6-84; Ohnmacht 7-71.
5A SEMIFINALS
Great Bend (11-0) vs. Salina Central (10-1)
St. James (10-1) vs. Basehor-Linwood (11-0)
QUARTERFINALS—Great Bend 29, Hays High 22; Salina Central 49, Salina South 24; Basehor-Linwood 31, Leavenworth 7; St. James 45, Mill Valley 42
SECOND ROUND—Great Bend 49, Wichita Carroll 7; Hays High 27, Hutchinson 6; Salina Central 62, Goddard 32; Salina South 22, Liberal 16; Basehor-Linwood 35, Blue Valley North 28; Leavenworth 35, Blue Valley North 21; Mill Valley 28, St. Thomas Aquinas 27; St. James 26, Spring Hill 14
FIRST ROUND—Great Bend 49, Newton 14; Wichita Carroll 14, Valley Center 0; Hutchinson 35, Emporia 0; Hays High 49, Goddard Eisenhower 30; Salina Central 68, Topeka West 22; Goddard 27, Maize South 24; Salina South 24, Andover 20; Liberal 41, Topeka Seaman 17; Basehor-Linwood 28, BV Southwest 10; DeSoto 49, Highland Park 16; Blue Valley North 49, KC Washington 18; Leavenworth 32, Pittsburg 22; St. Thomas Aquinas 49, KC Turner 0; Mill Valley 35, Blue Valley 26; Spring Hill 74, KC Harmon 0; St. James 57, Shawnee Heights 28
