Great Bend’s Alex Reed, a 6-3, 174-pound senior wide receiver/kick returner, has juked, stuttered and streaked his way into playmaker status for the Panthers.
When he gets the ball in his hands on a kick return or pass play, Reed has already had a penchant for making the big play:
• Entering tonight’s Homecoming game against Wichita Heights, Reed leads the Panthers in receptions (7), receiving yards (71) and has also scored two TDs.
• In Game 2 last Friday, Reed had a touchdown taken away. Reed took a reverse on an end around and scooted 43 yards for an apparent touchdown against Garden City. The touchdown was nullified because of a holding penalty, although Reed left his mark as he was shadowed closely the remainder of the game.
• In the season-opener against St. Thomas Aquinas, Reed torched the Saints with a length-of-the-field kickoff return for a touchdown. The run, which came off a fake of a reverse to teammate Jeremy Sigler two yards deep in the Panthers’ own end zone, found Reed getting to the outside and outrunning everyone down the left sideline.
It will go down in the books as a 100-yard kickoff return, although it shouldn’t have counted because in high school football, a player cannot return a kick out of the end zone
Besides his kick return for a score, Reed also had a 6-yard scoring reception against Aquinas in Great Bend’s 52-28 loss in Week 1.