It’s the final chance for both high school football teams to get a Western Athletic Conference victory this season.
But as Great Bend gets ready to travel to Liberal tonight for a 7 o’clock kickoff, that isn’t what Panthers head coach Tony Crough is focused on.
“We haven’t really talked about it,” Crough said. “That wasn’t one of our goals at the beginning of the season, to win the WAC. We’ve just wanted to focus on one game at a time and take this season one week at a time.”
If anything Crough wants a victory to give Great Bend a little momentum heading into the Class 5A District 6 schedule, which will start up next week.
“It would be nice to get a little jump start heading into the district,” Crough said. “None of the games matter in Kansas football until you get to the final three or even the final two because the Top 2 teams from each district makes it.”
So here is the matchup against Liberal.
Both teams are 1-4 this season.
Neither team has a conference victory.
Both teams are run-minded on offense and both teams rely on strong defenses.
“We’re really similar,” Crough said. “They like to run the ball. They’re a team that is solid running the ball and good on defense.
“They don’t make a lot of mistakes, and they try to make you beat yourself.”
Limiting mistakes will be key, according to Crough.
“I think it’s going to be one of those games where the team that makes the least mistakes comes away with a win,” Crough said.
Running the ball for Great Bend will be a pair of backs.
Trent Uselton, who was the starter at the beginning of the season, will return after missing two games due to a concussion.
Thomas Bobbitt, who has taken on most of the carries for the injured Uselton, will likely share time.
“Trent will play,” Crough said. “He’ll start for us. Him and Bobbitt will split the work load there.”
When asked if that sharing was due to Uselton coming off a few weeks off or if it was based on how well Bobbitt has played in his absence, Crough said both.
“It’s probably a little bit of both,” Crough said. “They both have run the ball well this year. We have some competition at the position, and we like that.
“It’s nice because they both have differense styles of running the ball. Bobbitt will power forward the run straight at the defense. Trent will cut and slash and make the defense miss before breaking loose down the field.”
Really, Crough said that the main thing was keeping both backs fresh.
“You know, carrying the ball more than 30 times a game in high school is going wear on you,” Crough said. “You’re going to get tired. This way, we can keep from overworking either of them.”