DODGE CITY — The Great Bend and Dodge City football teams would love to forget last week. Wichita Northwest rolled up more than 600 yards in a 63-27 rout over Great Bend. Wichita Heights quarterback K’Vonte Baker scored eight touchdowns and rushed for 454 yards in a 65-0 laugher over Dodge City.
The season can swing either way for Great Bend (1-2, 0-1 WAC) when the Panthers journey to Dodge City (1-2) for Friday’s Western Athletic Conference opener. The Panthers are seeded in the top eight teams in the western side of the 5A playoff bracket, which would earn a home game.
“I know we’ll get Dodge City’s best shot because coach Dave Foster will have his guys ready,” said Great Bend coach Erin Beck. “We’ve got to earn a road win. Both teams have one solid win.”
Both defenses were burned by lightning-quick backfields last week. Dodge City is yielding 374 yards and 37 ppg. The Panthers are permitting 305 yards and 34 ppg.
“We were proud of the way we competed four four quarters and continued to fight,” said Beck. “We improved and that’s what we look for. Defensively, weve seen some of the best backs in the state.”
Panther safety Dalton Miller (49 tackles) leads the WAC and Great Bend earned four takeaways against Wichita Northwest.
“I liked the way we started flying around the football. I was proud of the way our linebackers played,” Beck said. “I knew we had to get stops.”
Dodge City QB Beau Foster, the coach’s son, has helped reshape the Red Demons’ offense with 273 yards passing to compliment 158 yards rushing per game.
“We’ve seen Dodge City throw it more with tunnel screens and short passes, but their counter running play is their big-time play,” Beck said. “They’ll pull their guys and try and influence an outside linebacker.”
Panther QB Koy Brack threw touchdowns passes to Dalton Bieker and Ty Esfeld to average 231 yards passing. TB Gage Fritz (393 yds) helps the Panthers average 142 yards rushing.
“When we’ve got an advantage in the offensive line, we’ve got to take it to them and finish blocks,” Beck said. “We’ve got to trust that every guy will get their job done. Last week, our offensive line struggled with Northwest’s front five, but we knew that would be a tall task.”
The Panthers have created big passing plays, but the road to success is paved by the offensive line of center Kaden Schroeder, guards Trevor Fehr and Payton Doll and tackles Aaron Clark and Andrew Wettengel.
“We have to develop a run game to take pressure off,” Beck said.

Western Athletic Conference
FOOTBALL STATISTICS
OFFENSE       Ypg    Run    Pass
Great Bend    373    142    231
Garden City   296    126    170
Liberal           292    229     63
Dodge City     291    158    133
Hays High      205    167     38

DEFENSE        Ypg     Ppg     Dpg
Liberal            212     23       12
Garden City     213     28       23
Hays High       223      16      16
Great Bend     305      29      34
Dodge City      374      25      37

RUSHING
Gage Fritz, GB, 393, 3TD
Alan Marquez, L, 270, 1TD
Syris Dunlap, L, 243, 5TD
Quinton Lapointe, GC, 230
Hunter Brown, H, 205, 4TD
Koy Brack, GB, 194, 6TD

PASSING
Garret Doll, GC 509, 6TD-4 int
Koy Brack, GB 426, 3TD-4 int
Beau Foster, DC 273, 4TD-1 int
Syris Dunlap, L 188, 4TD-4 int
Hunter Brown, HH 90, 1TD-3 int

RECEIVING
Dalton Bieker, GB 9-287, 2TD
Andrew Kreutzer, GC 11-169, 3TD
Quinton Lapointe, GC 7-93
DeJon Delgado, DC 7-114
Tyrique Chandler, L 4-90

TACKLES
Dalton Miller, GB, 49
Miseal Monarrez, L 37
Ethan Crone, GC, 34
Keaton Markley, HH, 31
Blake Penka, GB 29

INTERCEPTIONS
Carlos Acosta, GC 2
Dalton Miller, GB 2
Hunter Brown, HH 2

SACKS
Jasper Partin, GC 4
Dante Blackmon, H 2
Elwin Trejo, L, 2