GREAT BEND HIGH SCHOOL
PANTHERS
Classification: 5A
District: 6 (Newton, Salina Central, Salina South)
League: Western Athletic Conference
Head coach: Tony Crough (entering first season)
Assistant coach(es): Tyler Manwarren (DC), Kelly Brack, Jay Black, Jeff Lutt, Brandon Wells, Bryce Wells, Bill Maddy, Tony Chesney, Sergio Ramirez, Tyler Shirley
2013 record: 4-5
WAC record: 2-2
Schedule
Varsity
Sept. 5 — At Leavenworth, 7 p.m.
Sept. 12 — HAYS, 7 p.m.
Sept. 19 — GARDEN CITY, 7 p.m.
Sept. 26 — WICHITA NORTH (Homecoming), 7 p.m.
Oct. 3 — At Dodge City, 7 p.m.
Oct. 10 — At Liberal, 7 p.m.
Oct. 17 — NEWTON (Senior Parent recognition), 7 p.m.
Oct. 24 — At Salina Central, 7 p.m.
Oct. 31 — SALINA SOUTH, 7 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
Roster
Varsity/Junior varsity
1 Trent Uselton RB 5-9 175 Sr.
2 Brady Michel DB/WR/QB 6-0 170 Jr.
3 Braden Meitner RB/DB 5-10 177 Jr.
4 Thomas Bobbitt RB/WR/DB 5-9 175 Jr.
5 Quinton Elliott DB/WR 5-10 170 Jr.
6 Jack Westhoff DB/WR 6-0 170 Sr.
7 Jayce Brack DE/FB 6-3 Sr.
8 Jacob Murray QB/WR/DB 5-10 160 Soph.
10 Jensen Randall LB/RB 5-11 164 Soph.
11 Spencer Zedrick RB/LB 5-6 160 Sr.
12 Nick Gerdes DB/WR 6-2 160 Sr.
13 Shade Wondra QB 5-11 191 Sr.
14 Dominique Rideaux LB/FB 5-7 203 Soph.
15 Branden Paden LB/RB 5-11 205 Sr.
16 Nick Reed WR/DB 5-10 145 Soph.
17 Ty Yager DB/WR 5-10 170 Sr.
18 Mason Sateren DB/WR 5-11 154 Jr.
19 Jose Batres DB 5-10 175 Jr.
20 Bryce Lytle WR/DB 5-7 140 Soph.
21 Cal Marshall DB/RB 5-8 155 Soph.
22 Ramses Lopez RB/DB 189 5-7 Jr.
23 Payton Mauler LB/FB 5-8 160 Soph.
24 Hector Olivas TE/DE 5-11 158 Soph.
25 Christian Rivas LB/FB 5-8 200 Jr.
26 Sam Witte LB/FB 5-10 184 Jr.
27 Mason YellowWolf LB/FB 5-8 155 Soph.
28 Cory B8urnham WR/DB 5-8 129 Soph.
29 Brice Kaiser DB/WR 5-9 134 Soph.
31 Trey Hurd LB/RB 5-11 162 Soph.
33 Adrian Falk RB/DL/K 6-1 207 Sr.
34 Andrew Reed DL 6-0 215 Jr.
35 Kris Gieck DB/WR 5-8 130 Soph.
36 Braulio Vargas RB/LB 5-8 154 Soph.
39 Carlos Prado K 5-11 192 Sr.
40 Raymundo Guzman DB/WR 5-5 159 Jr.
43 Brayden Smith WR 6-4 170 Soph.
44 Wyatt Bryant LB/TE 6-3 215 Sr.
50 Kade Southard OL 6-1 220 Jr.
51 Zane Pierce DL/OL 5-11 240 Sr.
52 Jake Dearman DL/OL 5-10 235 Jr.
53 Dodger Beckham LB 6-1 191 Jr.
54 Dalton Bender OL/DL 6-1 200 Soph.
55 Justin Denney OL/TE 6-0 220 Sr.
56 Ben Witte LB/OL 5-9 150 Jr.
57 Jared Maneth DL/OL 5-11 220 Jr.
58 Jacob Holden DL 5-7 191 Soph.
59 Adrian Vasquez LB 5-11 200 Sr.
60 Mario Martinez DL 5-6 158 Soph.
61 Jackson Randall OL 6-0 240 Sr.
62 Jared Higgins OL 6-0 260 Sr.
63 Trey Popp OL/DL 6-2 273 Sr.
66 Alex Deist OL/DL 5-11 260 Jr.
69 Juan Luna DL 5-10 245 Sr.
70 Carter Sheffield OL 5-8 215 Sr.
75 Josh Moran OL 6-2 260 Sr.
76 Aaron Shumate OL 5-11 245 Soph.
77 Noah Presson OL 275 6-5 Soph.
78 Koby Schroeder OL 5-11 285 Soph.
80 Olises Andujo TE/DL 5-11 143 Soph.
84 Caleb Bartlett WR 6-1 168 Sr.
Ninth grade roster
Alek Bauder 5-foot-4 130 pounds
Devin Boone 6-2 188
Hunter Britt 5-8 143
Aaron Clark 6-5 245
Kyle Clasen 5-10 140
Evan Daubert 6-0 129
Valentin Delgadillo 5-11 257
Tyler Epp 5-7 150
Ty Esfeld 5-7 104
Trevor Fehr 5-11 163
Robert Frizell 5-2 119
Eliazar Gonzales 5-9 145
Isaac Gonzalez 5-9 145
Josh Hamilton 5-7 205
Devon Hernandez 5-7 205
Max Jerke 5-6 125
Kameron Keener 6-1 165
Grant Keller 5-6 125
Dalton Lamb 5-9 219
Samuel McGinnis 5-9 150
Kyler Merten 5-6 122
Luke Moore 6-1 344
Andrew Morss 6-3 167
Dawson Nall 5-9 239
Aron Reyes 5-6 144
Blake Ridgel 5-10 162
Braxton Schooler 5-5 113
Jace Schwager 6-0 127
Tre Stevenson 5-9 270
Tucker Trevino 5-3 108
Diego Vasquez 5-9 261
Edgar Villegas 5-8 223
Justin Wheeler 5-5 100
Eric Woods 5-8 118
Micah Doctor
Alejandro Dominguez
Wyatt Feck
Isaac Panzer
Schedule
Junior varsity
Sept. 15 — At Hays, 5 p.m.
Sept. 22 — At Garden City, 6 p.m.
Sept. 29 — At Wichita North, 6 p.m.
Oct. 6 — DODGE CITY, 6 p.m.
Oct. 13 — LIBERAL, 5 p.m.
Oct. 20 — At Newton, 6 p.m.
Oct. 27 — SALINA CENTRAL, 6 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
Ninth grade
Sept. 15 — At Hays, 3 p.m.
Sept. 22 — At Garden City, 4 p.m.
Sept. 29 — At Wichita North, 4 p.m.
Oct. 6 — DODGE CITY, 4 p.m.
Oct. 13 — LIBERAL, 3 p.m.
Oct. 20 — At Newton, 4:30 p.m.
Oct. 27 — SALINA CENTRAL, 4 p.m.
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
High school football season is upon us, and the Great Bend Panthers are back in action, but with a new face guiding the way.
Tony Crough takes over as head coach after Bo Black moved north to coach rival Hays.
The transition has gone smoothly, according to Crough.
“It was extremely nice to have last year,” Crough said. “It’s really nice because I’m not learning a new community. I already know people here. The staff, shoot, we were all coaching together last year.
“With exception of one varsity coach, we were all here last year and I’m settling in well.”
While he’s settling in, there are a lot of athletes vying for a chance at a starting position.
“We’re starting to get some good competition as certain positions,” Crough said. “We’re starting to see some guys step up. We’re ready to get on the field, really.
“You get two weeks of two-a-days, doing different things on the field, and the cream starts rising to the top. That’s what we’re starting to see a little bit.”
Certain positions seem locked in, while others have multiple candidates. In the latter positions, people might see multiple jersey numbers throughout the year.
• Wondra comfortable at QB
One position that seems settled is quarterback.
Shade Wondra, who started the preseason scrimmage as the varsity quarterback, will get the starting nod heading into season.
“Shade’s going to be our quarterback,” Crough said. “He’s established himself as a leader at that position. He’s really taking control there.
“We’re got guys serviceable to back him up, but he’s kind of put himself apart.”
Wondra’s accuracy is what has drawn Crough’s attention.
“He’s had a lot of throws on that arm the last couple weeks,” Crough said, “so we’re going to try to limit the throws here soon.
“Shade’s one of those guys, he’s a pitcher and third baseman on the baseball team, and he’s one of those guys, he’s not going to throw that dart 15 yards out, but he’s going to put that ball on the money.”
Wondra isn’t all arm, though. Wondra is both mobile and durable, able to make plays happen on the run both with his feet and with his arm.
“We might move him around a little bit,” Crough said. “He was a linebacker last year, so he’s tough. He got that shoulder injury last year, which sidelined him, but he’s not a kid that’s scared of contact.
“We’d wish he’d be a little bit more scared of contact. We’d wish he’d go down and not take the hits. When he starts running, he put his shoulder down and run over people.”
In fact, Wondra’s disregard for his own wellbeing will leave things up to Crough to work around.
“We need to be careful with him and not put him in situations where he can get dinged up,” Crough said. “He’s a crucial part of our offense.”
• Uselton to lead running back-by-committee
Trent Uselton led the charge from the tailback position during the scrimmage, and Crough said he’ll be the go-to back of choice for the Panthers this season.
“Right now, Trent Uselton has kind of been the guy at the top of the food chain (at running back),” Crough said, “but we’ve kind of got a stable up there.
“With Thomas Bobbitt, Ramses Lopez, Adrian Falk, the new kid, when he gets going, he looks good.”
Crough said that the stable of backs will allow him to keep his runners fresh, and will give the opposing defense different looks, but Uselton will be the workhorse in this stable.
“Trent’s going to carry a lot of the load there, but we’re going to spread it around,” Crough said. “We got guys who can carry it.”
Crough said it was Uselton’s instincts that set him apart.
“A lot of it is experience, vision,” Crough said. “Trent is a very instinctive runner. He sees the hole before it’s there. He’s patient. He can set up blocks.
“We’ve got a good offensive line and we feel like he gets behind them and sets them up well.”
Just because Uselton is the starting tailback, doesn’t mean that the other runners will have to wait in line. Crough said there will be times when multiple backs will be on the field and some might line up as tight ends or receivers.
• Receiver position has mix of experience and youth
At wide receiver, Crough said he has a mix of veterans and young guys who will get worked in.
“Receiver, we’ve got some veterans there,” Crough said. “Nick Gerdes and Jack Westhoff, who is injured. We’ve got Quinton Elliott and Ty Yager playing.”
The problem with these choices is that they all have starting duties on defense. Enter the younger group.
“All those guys are starters on defense, so we’re kind of penciling in some young kids,” Crough said. “Brayden Smith, Brady Michel, who is new this year and will be playing some slot this year. Jacob Murray even, Seth Lytle, some sophomores there.
“We’re hoping to work them in slowly and not throw them in the fire there. That could help us. We’ve got a lot of youth there.”
Crough said he’ll look to work in several receivers throughout each game.
• It all starts at the line
Crough said his main focus has been on his linemen.
“That’s the focal point of our offense,” Crough said. “We’ve got a big, tough group of offensive linemen. They can block you. In fact, we’ve been putting an extra lineman at tight end because we just feel like we have the depth.”
The offensive linemen are pretty much locked in.
“It starts with Trey Popp at center,” Crough said. “Then you move out to the left, we bring back returners in Jackson Randall and Josh Moran. They are just guys who have been around and can compete.
“On the right side, you got Alex Deist, who is just a bowling ball, who can just move people. Then you got Kade Southard, who is just a good athlete.”
• Panthers want bruising, blitzing defense
Crough said his defense is more advanced than his offense heading into the final week before Game 1.
“This time of year, defense is already ahead of the offense,” Crough said. “When you run the type of defense that we run, the 3-3 stack, and you run the blitzes that we do, they are way ahead.”
Crough said he likes what he sees.
“They look fast,” Crough said. “They look aggressive. They’re just flying around, making plays.”
He hasn’t seen everyone just yet.
Jayce Brack, a bully on the defensive line, has been sidelined by an injury, but Crough said he should be back soon.
“When we get Brack back in there, it’s going to look a lot better,” Crough said. “He’s kind of the big dog on that front.”
• Long way to start the season
Great Bend’s first opponent is Leavenworth ... in Leavenworth.
That means the Panthers will have to travel several hours on the bus before they officially start their regular season schedule.
Crough isn’t worried about his players’ state of mind after that trip.
“Sometimes when you’re in central or western Kansas,” Crough said, “it’s central Kansas here, but when you live in Leavenworth, this is western Kansas. When you live out here, you take pride in going to places and show them how we play western Kansas football.”
Leavenworth will be a juxtaposition to Great Bend. Something Crough said he’s planning on.
“They’re fast,” Crough said. “They’ve got a lot of speed, so it’s going to be our power game versus their speed game. It’s going to be a battle of contrasting styles.”