The Great Bend High School football team couldn’t buy a break on Friday night.
With Western Athletic Conference foe Dodge City in town on Homecoming, the Panthers couldn’t seem to get things going as the Demons won 47-13 at Memorial Stadium.
“We just beat ourselves early and dug ourselves such a big hole that there was no way we were equipped to come back from 20 points at that time,” GBHS head coach Bo Black said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot, and we’re not good enough to shoot ourselves in the foot like that and think that we could come back.”
Great Bend drops to 3-2 overall, and 1-1 in the WAC. Dodge City improves to 3-2, 1-1.
With Great Bend losing its first conference game of the season, it brings the WAC title back within every team’s grasp.
“We had a really good chance to put ourselves in the driver’s seat tonight,” Black said. “So yeah, it’s anybody’s game. The team that’s going to show up and play the cleanest week in and week out for the next couple weeks is going to end up winning the thing.”
It became clear from the outset that Great Bend planned on giving Dodge City a healthy dose of running back Johnny Allende.
The senior found a handful of creases as he made up 179 of Great Bend’s 235 yards of total offense in the first half.
Allende, who had 194 rushing yards and two touchdowns, left the game injured in the second half.
“We ran the ball well in the first half,” Black said. “We were doing what we wanted to do. He has a contusion in his back, but I think it’s close to his kidneys, so we’re going to go ahead and get him checked out.”
Even with the offensive production, Dodge City was able to hold a 23-13 advantage at halftime.
Then everything started to capsize.
Great Bend’s first possession of the second half ended with a bad snap that flew over punter Nick Warren’s head, opening up the door for a field goal from Dillon Burkhard, one of two for him in the game.
When the Panthers were forced to punt again on the ensuing drive, Warren bobbled the snap, leading to a blocked punt.
 Demons quarterback Kelan Newton ran for a 12-yard touchdown, putting Dodge City ahead 33-13.
Things continued to go awry as the Panthers lost a fumble on the next drive, one of three turnovers on the night.
“It was just miscues, fundamentals of the game of football, and it just snowballed like I’ve never seen before,” Black said. “I don’t know. That’s what makes it very frustrating.
“We struggled against Ulysses, but we had a good game against Garden, and we performed well (in Week 4) in Wichita, and we had a good week in practice. That usually shows itself on the field. It sure didn’t tonight.”
Dodge City started things off, scoring on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Newton to Bryce Unruh with 7:37 remaining in the first quarter. Burkhard missed the extra point to make it 6-0.
Both teams went back and forth in the first quarter, but the scoring picked up before halftime.
The Panthers’ hole got deeper with 8:18 remaining in the first half, as Burkhard made a field goal from Great Bend’s 9-yard line.
Allende punched in a 14-yard touchdown to get the Panthers on the scoreboard. Gustavo Apodaco missed the extra point, making it 9-6.
The Demons responded on the next drive, starting from their own 41-yard line and capping the 59-yard drive with a Blaik Middleton 1-yard dive into the end zone.
An Allende fumble left Dodge City on the Panthers’ 2-yard line, and Newton scurried in for a 2-yard TD.
Allende got the points back before halftime with a 6-yard scoring scamper with 35.2 remaining.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Western Athletic Conference

Friday

At Great Bend
Memorial Stadium

Dodge City 47, Great Bend 13
Dodge City     6    17    17    7  —  47  
Great Bend    0    13     0     0  —  13

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
Dodge City — Bryce Unruh 16 pass from Kelan Newton (Dillon Burkhard kick failed), 7:37
Second Quarter
Dodge City — Burkhard field goal, 8:18
Great Bend — Johnny Allende 14 run (Gustavo Apodaco kick failed), 4:30.
Dodge City — Blaik Middleton 1 run (Burkhard kick), 2:57.
Dodge City — Newton 2 run (Burkhard kick), 2:03.
Great Bend — Allende 6 run (Carlos Prado kick), 35.2
Third Quarter
Dodge City — Burkhard field goal, 7:30
Dodge City — Newton 12 run (Burkhard kick), 5:44
Dodge City — Middleton 18 run (Burkhard kick), 4:35
Fourth Quarter
Dodge City — Newton 1 run (Burkhard kick), 9:28

TEAM STATISTICS
                              DC    GB
First Downs              18    13
Total Net Yards       304    240     
Rushes-yards     39-212    48-162
Passing                    92    78
Comp-Att-Int    10-22-0    4-10-0
Punts-Avg          3-32-6    4-25.7
Fumbles-Lost          1-0    4-3
Penalties-Yards     3-25    5-45
 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING —  Dodge City, Middleton 22-174, Newton 10-32, Tyler Trent 3-6, Caden Walters 4-0; Great Bend, Allende 28-194, Beck 9-(minus-20), Burley 5-(minus-4), Trent Uselton 3-9, Sam Witte 1-4, Nick Warren 1-(minus-26).
PASSING — Dodge City, Newton 10-22-92; Great Bend, Beck 4-10-78
RECEIVING — Dodge City, Jace Larson 3-35, Steven Bartel 3-12, Unruh 2-27, Middleton 2-18; Great Bend, Zach Reynolds 2-41, Greg Burley 1-24, Uselton 1-13