BY JIM MISUNAS
ULYSSES – After road woes, Great Bend’s football team performed like road warriors with a dominating 56-16 non-league football victory over winless Ulysses Friday.
Great Bend scored eight first-half touchdowns after previously losing to Hays High, Buhler and Liberal in road games.
The Panthers scored on eight of nine first-half drives, marred only by a lost fumble. Quarterback Daxton Minton scored three touchdowns on runs of 5, 8 and 15 yards and converted a 21-yard scoring strike to Ian Premer. Cody Miller scored on 2-and 6-yard runs with 136 yards rushing.
How much fun did Great Bend enjoy?
So much that Great Bend coach Erin Beck ran a lateral play for the Panthers’ secret weapon – left guard Matthew Johnson.
“The play of the game was the backwards pass to guard Matthew Johnson for a touchdown. That’s an offensive lineman’s dream,” Beck said. “Ohnmacht ran it to perfection. (Trenton) Kern led him into the endzone. Coach Kelly Brack has begged me to run that since July. It worked in practice. We had fun with it. It was an opportune time to run it.”
Trenton Kern and Aiden Davidson recovered a pair of fumbles that Kern forced. Kaiden Hoffman and Cooper Ohnmacht intercepted passes. The Panthers converted the turnovers into quick offensive touchdowns. Great Bend converted scoring drives after Ulysses failed to convert on fourth downs at the Tigers’ 20- and 43-yard lines.
Ohnmacht scored on an 88-yard kickoff return after Ulysses quarterback Aden Alvarado scored on a 55-yard run for a 42-8 lead. Minton and Miller ended the first half with touchdowns.
“Offensively and defensively, we controlled that first half,” Beck said. “Our takeaways were nice to see. We dominated with great field position and capitalized. It’s nice to get back to our style of football. It’s always nice to have an opportunity to play younger kids.”
Miller and Minton took turns running against the Tigers’ defense.
“Up front, size-wise, we finally had a team we beat the eye-test on,” Beck said. “Cody made some great cuts in that second quarter when their linebackers made some adjustments and started keying on him. The quarterback run game has been a staple of our system.”
Ulysses (0-7) earned its second touchdown on a 7-yard pass from Alvarado to Carmelo Orosco. Again, the Panthers were exploited when the quarterback escaped the pocket.
“When they had success it was because of their quarterback, who is electric,” Beck said. “We’ve developed depth on our defensive line.”
Great Bend (4-3, 1-2 WAC) must defeat Garden City (5-2, 2-1 WAC) to earn a chance at a 5A home playoff game. The Buffaloes will earn a share of the WAC title with a victory. Hays High upset Liberal 48-41 in two overtimes.
Great Bend 35 21 0 0 – 56
Ulysses 0 8 8 0 – 16
GB—Daxton Minton 5 run (Diego Soto kick); GB—Minton 7 run (Soto kick); GB—Cody Miller 5 run (Soto kick); GB—Matthew Johnson 3 run (Soto kick); GB—Ian Premer 21 pass from Minton (Soto kick); GB—Alvarado 55 run (Carmelo Orosco pass from Alvarado); GB—Ohnmacht 88 kickoff return (Soto kick); GB—Minton 25 run (Soto kick); GB—Miller 1 run (Soto kick); U—Orosco 7 pass from Alvarado (Alvarado run)
RUSHING—GB—30-201; Miller 15-133; Minton 5-36; Conner Holladay 3-19; Colton Brack 1-10; Ohnmacht 1-3; Johnson 1-3; Triston Tomlinson 1-0; Josh Birney 2-(-3); U—34-202.
PASSING—GB—Minton 7-10-0, 73; Tomlinson 2-3-0, 21; U—Alvarado 5-12-2, 63.
RECEIVING—GB—Premer 2-36; Spray 3-21; Hayden Kelly 1-16; Miller 1-12; Jaxon Wondra 1-5; Jacob Hall 1-4.
WESTERN ATHLETIC*
Liberal 3-1 6-1
Hays High 3-1 5-2
Garden City 2-1 5-2
Great Bend 1-2 4-3
Dodge City 0-4 2-5
10-20—*Garden City at Great Bend; Ulysses at Garden City; Dodge City at Wichita Southeast; Topeka High at Hays High
10-13—Great Bend 56, Ulysses 16; *Garden City 30, Dodge City 13; *Hays High 48, Garden City 41 (OT)
10-6—*Liberal 21, Great Bend 14; Garden City 42, Ulysses 11; *Hays High 40, Dodge City 20
9-29—*Great Bend 28, Dodge City 0; *Liberal 28, Garden City 21; Hays 48, Ulysses 7
9-22—Great Bend 55, Wichita Southeast 0; *Garden City 24, Hays High 21 (OT); *Liberal 21, Dodge City 7
9-15—Buhler 20, Great Bend 14; Garden City 35, Wichita West 6; Dodge City 27, Wichita South 20; Manhattan 49, Hays High 7; Liberal 51, Topeka High 13
9-8—*Hays High 28, Great Bend 27; Liberal 47, Emporia 14; Junction City 52, Dodge City 35; Garden City 70, Wichita North 15
9-1—Great Bend 29, McPherson 16; Liberal 23, Holcomb 17; Hays High 21, Junction City 15; Wichita Heights 20, Garden City 19; Dodge City 13, Wichita West 8
