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Ball-controlling Panthers rally for victory in second half
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Great Bends Jeremy Sigler (21) carries the ball out of the Panthers end zone on his way to a team-high 109 yards on 23 carries. - photo by DALE HOGG Great Bend Tribune

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Friday
At Garden City

Garden City 21, Great Bend 13
Great Bend    0    0    14    7—21
Garden City    0    7    0    6—13

SCORING SUMMARY
Second Quarter
Garden City — Tony Rubio 5 run (kick good), 6:11
Third Quarter
Great Bend — Jeremy Sigler 16 run (Maurico Uribe kick), 3:48
Great Bend — Greg Hildebrand 1 run (Uribe kick), 22.5
Fourth Quarter
Garden City — Keith Curran 1 run (pass failed), 8:14
Great Bend — Hildebrand 1 run (Uribe kick), 1:21

TEAM STATISTICS
    GB    GC
First Downs    22    11
Rushes-yards    46-207    28-108
Passing yards    127    114
Total Offense    335    222
Comp-Att-Int    12-19-1    10-16-1
Punts-Avg.    1-28    2-56.0
Fumbles-Lost    1-1    0-0
Penalties-Yards    6-32    9-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Great Bend: Sigler, 23-109, Hildebrand 19-75, Dakota Ellis 1-11, Logan Buehler, 2-6, Alex Reed,1-minus-1.
PASSING – Great Bend: Hildebrand 12-19-1 127; Garden City, Cody Bernbeck 10-15-1 114; Jake Curran 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING – Great Bend: Reed 3-59, Uribe 3-20, Beuhler 1-11, Bowman 2-11, Connor Sell, Sigler 1-14

WAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
Team    WAC    ALL
Great Bend    1-0    1-1
Hays    1-0    3-0
Dodge City    0-0    3-0
Garden City    0-1    1-2
Liberal    0-1    2-1
Friday’s results
Great Bend 21, Garden City 13
Dodge City 63, Wichita North 13
Hays 30, Liberal 7

GARDEN CITY — Even though the Great Bend High School Panthers moved the ball running from the shotgun formation the entire half, they continually shot themselves in the foot.
A trio of times in the opening half, the Panthers drove deep into Garden City territory but came away empty as the Buffs seized a 7-0 halftime lead Friday night.
That all changed in the second half, when the Panthers (1-1, 1-0) ate up the clock with time-consuming drives, finished off the drives and made some big stops on defense in grinding out a 21-13 road victory over the Buffaloes at Memorial Stadium.
“It was fun, going back to physical football,” Great Bend Black said. “We said all along that we needed to establish the run and we ran behind right guard Tyler Uselton and Sean Keenan, the right tackle, most of the night and they did a super job.”
It opened gaping holes for GBHS running back Jeremy Sigler, who finished with 109 yards on the ground, and quarterback Greg Hildebrand, who had 19 carries for 75 yards and two scores.
Sigler spearheaded the Panthers’ surge, after the Buffs opened the third quarter by driving from their own 15 to the Great Bend 28-yard line.
But after Garden quarterback Cody Bernbeck was dropped for a three-yard loss, he threw an incompletion on fourth down and the Panthers took over on their own 31.
That’s where Sigler took charge. He had 10-, 12-, 2- and 11-yard runs on four straight carries to advance the ball to the Garden 24. Shortly afterward, he scored on a 16-yard scamper with 3:48 left in the third quarter, knotting the score at 7.
Garden advanced the ball to its 37 for third-and-eight, when Burley made his pick, returning it to the Buffaloes’ 32.
“That was a huge play,” Black said. “It seemed to turn the game into our favor.”
Hildebrand had 9- and 7-yard gains to give the Panthers a first down at the 18. Then Sigler gained 10 yards down to the 1, setting up a 1-yard plunge by Hildebrand with 22.5 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Panthers their first lead of the game at 14-7.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, but not before the Buffs drove 52 yards, capped by running back Keith Curran’s 1-yard plunge, closing the gap to 14-13. On the conversion, which included a false start penalty by Garden, the Buffs had a fake extra-point kick go awry as Bernbeck, the holder, threw an incompletion in the end zone.
With Sigler and Hildebrand taking turns, the Panthers had the ball from the 8:07 mark until the 1:21 mark, with the duo combining for 60 rushing yards.
Garden City burned their final timeout, but Great Bend punched in a 2-yard keeper by Hildebrand for a score at the 1:21 mark, increasing the Panthers’ lead to 21-13.
Hildebrand could have taken a knee on his scoring run, but punched it in anyway. That gave Garden its only possession in the tinal 8:07, but time ran out of it.
It wasn’t so easy in the first half.
On the opening possesion of the game, GBHS started at its own 35 after Garden kicked the ball out of bounds on the opening kickoff.
The Panthers gained three first downs in a lengthy drive before having it stall at the 18 after Hildebrand’s fourth-and-4 pass fell incomplete at the 6:45 mark.
Late in the first period, Great Bend started its possession at its own 3 after Garden City’s John Heiman’s 42-yard punt was downed.
On second-and-3, Hildebrand, on a play-action pass, connected with breakaway threat Alex Reed for a 43-yard completion and a first down at the 46. The drive continued until Reed took the handoff on a reverse, skirted to the outside, turned the right corner and streaked 21 yards for an apparent touchdown.
Trouble was, the Panthers were flagged for a holding penalty, nullifying the score. One play later, from the 22, Hildebrand’s pass was intercepted by Garden’s Fito Espino, negating yet  another drive.