Defensive battle?

Not so much.

It was the Greyson Tempel Show on Friday night at Great Bend High School's Memorial Stadium.

In a series filled with narrow victories — Great Bend had won eight of the previous 11 — the Buffaloes' 17-point win was the widest margin of victory between the longtime Western Athletic Conference opponents since the 1999 season. Garden City won 39-0 that year, en route its only Class 6A state championship in school history.

Via 67- and 39-yard scoring bolts in the first quarter by Greyson Tempel, Garden had an early 14-0 edge.

Midway through the second quarter, Matt Marshall, who shared the Panthers' quarterback duties with Bryce Beck throughout, hit wideout Brock Ibarra for a 20-yard scoring pass at the 8:07 mark to chop the deficit in half at 14-7. It capped a 9-play, 66-yard drive, highlighted by a fake handoff up the middle by Beck for a 24-yard gain after he got to the outside.

The Panthers later tied the game at 14 after a 1-yard plunge by Josh Lopez with 4:54 left in the second quarter, set up by Ibarra's diving catch over the middle at the 3-yard line.

Greyson Tempel's third TD, an 11-yard burst, came with 1:02 left before halftime, regaining the lead for the Buffs at 21-14. After the Buffs made an interception of a GBHS pass following the ensuing kickoff, he scored a fourth touchdown with 45.8 seconds to go off a 16-yard bolt, making it 29-14 at the break.

By halftime, Greyson Tempel's rushing total stood at 190.

Greyson Tempel, a 5-foot-10, 175-pounder, is a triplet, having identical siblings in Dustin Tempel and Tarynn Tempel. Greyson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Taylor Foley, along with a 23-yard scoring pass to his brother, Dustin, during the third quarter.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Western Athletic Conference

Friday

At Great Bend

Memorial Stadium

Garden City 45, Great Bend 28

Garden City                  14  15  13   3  —  45

Great Bend                    0   14   0  14  —  28

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

Garden City — Greyson Tempel 67 run (Rudy Chavez kick), 11:08

Garden City — G. Tempel 39 run (Chavez kick), 7:47

Second Quarter

Great Bend — Brock Ibarra 20 pass from Matt Marshall (Mario Espino kick), 8:07

Great Bend — Josh Lopez 1 run (Espino kick), 4:54

Garden City — G. Tempel 11 run (Chavez kick), 1:02

Garden City —  G. Tempel 16 run (Denton Keller run), 0:45.8

Third quarter

Garden City — Taylor Foley 12 pass from Tempel

(kick failed), 5:36

Garden City — Dustin Tempel 23 pass from G. Tempel (Chavez kick), 0:19.0

Fourth quarter

Great Bend — Matt Marshall 1 run (Mario Espino kick), 9:18

Garden City — Chavez 23 FG, 5:07

Great Bend — Chad Touslee 11 pass from Bryce Beck (Espino kick), 0:22