LEAVENWORTH — Things didn’t necessarily go as planned as Great Bend High School’s football team challenged Leavenworth on the road on Friday night.
The Panthers went in expecting to be run-heavy and use their power game to overcome Leavenworth’s speed, but the Pioneers backs proved too shifty.
Great Bend fell 19-0.
“I thought that, obviously, we executed poorly,” Crough said. “Our youth just showed. The limited varsity experience that we’re putting on the field showed. When you make mistakes and you’re that young, the kids just start to doubt themselves.
“Obviously, we got to get better. I got to do better. Our staff has to do better and we have to make our kids better.”
Things started off well for the Panthers. They received the ball and started to march down the field, utilizing the hard work of running back Trent Uselton.
“Trent did great,” Crough said. “I thought we ran the ball well at times. He got his head down and ran behind his blocks well. We just couldn’t put it all together.”
Uselton got the ball in the first four plays, moving Great Bend to Leavenworth’s 38-yard line after a Pioneer penalty.
On a first-and-five, Great Bend put the ball in quarterback Shade Wondra’s hands, who put a pass between the hands of Uselton for an incomplete.
That helped Leavenworth regain composure and put an end to the drive.
That was the story of the night for Great Bend.
The Panthers struggled to move the ball consistently, only managing seven first downs in the game.
Meanwhile, the Great Bend defense really shined, in spite of what the score looked like.
“They did awesome,” Crough said. “They kept us on the field all night. They kept getting our offense back out there, and our offense just couldn’t execute.”
“I think our defensive staff had a great plan.”
The Panthers defense managed three turnovers and had two goal-line stands.
One stand started on Great Bend’s 3-yard line and ended in a field goal.
The other was a first-and-goal from the eight and finished with a missed field goal after a sack and an offensive penalty.
“Our defense definitely played plenty good,” Crough said. “They played good enough to win that game. We just got to execute better on special teams and offense.
“You can’t win one phase of game and expect to win a football game. You got to win at least two. We lost two and won one.”