BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
If Great Bend Panther quarterback Koy Brack has his choice, he’d rather hand off the football to tailback Gage Fritz. But Dodge City’s defense gave Brack the quarterback run game in a 32-carry night that earned 150 yards.
That formula worked fine with Brack, who has thrown for 567 yards and four scores and rushed for 354 yards and nine TDs. The Panthers average 239 yards rushing and 142 yards passing per game.
The Panthers (2-2) will see what phase of the offense works best against Wichita West (2-2) in Friday’s Homecoming football game at Memorial Stadium.
Wichita Northwest gained 591 yards with RB Breece Hall gaining 246 yards in a 54-14 victory over the Pioneers last week. Wichita West averaged 250 yards rushing and 50 yards passing per game. QB Zion Parks (210 pass, 149 rush) operates a run-oriented offense that runs with a tight end. RB Shakur Johnson (328 yards) and Jermaine Bell (195 yards) lead the running game.
“It should be a good matchup,” said Great Bend coach Erin Beck. “They’re a run-heavy style football team that plays with a tight end. They are coming off two tough losses to Wichita Carroll and Wichita Northwest. They will come in believing they have a good chance to win Friday.”
Beck said the Pioneers line up and run right at the defense and mix in counter plays and play-action passes.
“This is a football game where you line up and see which team wins the battle at the line of scrimmage,” Beck said. “We want to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football.”
Defensively, the Pioneers play a 4-3 defense that plays the run.
“They’ll load the box and play manot-man in the secondary,” Beck said. “It’s a good, tough defense.”
Homecoming starts prior to kickoff at Memorial Stadium.
“The most most important thing for Homecoming is beating Wichita West’s football team,” Beck said.
5A WEST SEEDINGS (after 4 games)
1—Wichita KMC 4-0 52
1—Wichita Carroll 4-0 44
2—Goddard 4-0 43
3—Valley Center 4-0 25
5—Liberal 3-1 22
6—Maize High 3-1 6
7—Great Bend 2-2 12
8—Andover 2-2 8
9—Wichita Heights 2-2 0
10—Emporia 2-2 (-2)
11—Salina South 1-3 (-18)
12—Newton 1-3 (-20)
13—Ark City 1-3 (-33)
14—Eisenhower 0-4 (-31)
15—Salina Central 0-4 (-41)
16—Topeka West 0-4 (-52)
WESTERN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Garden City 1-0 4-0
Hays High 2-1 2-2
Great Bend 1-1 2-2
Liberal 0-1 2-1
Dodge City 0-1 1-3
FRIDAY’S GAMES
Dodge City at Wichita South
Garden City at Liberal
Hays at Valley Center
Wichita West at Great Bend
