Most people might not view a 4-5 high school football season as a successful one, yet when you consider it entailed the toughest all-class schedule in the state, then the naysayers might want to think it over.
The Great Bend High School Panthers finished 3-1 for second place in the Western Athletic Conference, but three of the Panthers five losses came to teams who advanced to state playoff semifinal games.
Moreover, two of those teams are still standing, in quest of state championships on Saturday: Class 6A Wichita Heights (12-0) and 5A Wichita-Bishop Carroll (10-2). WAC champion and 6A Dodge City (11-1), which lost to Heights last Saturday in a semifinal game, was the third team to beat the Panthers.
The 5A Panthers landed three players on the All-WAC first team and four others on the honorable mention list. They endured the most murderous schedule in the state, coming on strong late in the season and winning two of their three final regular-season games to capture the district crown and a berth in the state playoffs.
Great Bend lost to Carroll in the opening round.
“You’re not real happy with the fact that you finished 4-5,” Great Bend head coach Bo Black said, “but at the same time, we’re happy with the way we competed and we’re happy with the fact that we won the district championship.
“We’re happy with the fact that our kids came out and played extremely hard every Friday night.”
Panthers quarterback Greg Hildebrand, wide receiver Alex Reed and defensive back Logan Buehler — all seniors — were selected as first-team all-conference selections in a vote by the WAC coaches.
Senior defensive lineman Dakota Zecha, along with wide receiver Jace Bowman, linebacker Jeremy Sigler and defensive back Connor Sell — all juniors — were honorable mention selections.
Without a doubt, it was a star-studded all-conference team that featured Dodge City quarterback Jared Helfrich as the WAC player of the year, leading the Red Demons to a 4-0 record to capture the league crown.
“I thought, on paper, it was the best all-conference team that I’ve seen in a long time,” Black said. “I thought every position had really good football players and I thought our kids obviously added to that.
“With (6A) Garden City (5-4) making the playoffs and Dodge City running to 11-1 and Hays finishing at 7-2 and Liberal (3-6) being in a tough district with some really good athletes, it was a good year in the WAC all-around, one of the better ones in quite some time.”
The Panthers, who lost to rock-solid 5A St. Thomas-Aquinas in their season opener, started out 1-4 before winning three of their final four regular-season games — highlighted by district wins over Hays and Salina South. Great Bend leap-frogged Salina Central, which handed the Panthers their only loss during that stretch, for the district crown after Hays beat Central, and Great Bend beat South at Memorial Stadium.
Hildebrand had the third-best passing yardage during the regular season with 1,464 yards, trailing the aforementioned Helfrich (1,972) and Slader McVey of Liberal (1,690), who also was named to the first team.
The Panthers’ quick-hitting offense picked up momentum in the late season, with Reed and Bowman playing integral roles.
Bowman finished third in the WAC in receptions (38), trailing only Kansas State commitment Jade Cathey of Liberal (45) and Redskins teammate Tyson Deaton (41), and fifth in receiving yards (482).
Cathey finished with a WAC-best 721 receiving yards and nine touchdowns, leading that category for the second-straight season. Another game-changing wideout included Dodge’s Rico Hogan, who had32 catches for 667 yards and five TDs).
The hands-down top breakaway threat and top kick returner in the WAC, the speedy Reed had 421 yards and four touchdown scores in 20 catches.
Reed (knee injury) and Buehler (ankle injury) suffered devastating season-ending knee injuries on the same play late in the district loss to Salina Central. Buehler was a co-leader for fumble recoveries (2) and one of the staples in the Panthers’ undersized by determined defensive unit, along with Zecha.
The Panthers pulled together and rebounded from losing two of their top playmakers by beating South, 42-21, to slip past Central in the points system for the district crown.
Hays was the odd-team out in a district where Great Bend, Central and Hays were all 2-1, and despite the fact that Indians knocked off Central.
Hildebrand had his best game off the season against South, totaling 255 passing yards and 100 rushing. He finished with the fifth-best rushing total in the WAC (445 yards), and also scored seven rushing touchdowns while throwing for 14 others, tying Helfrich for tops in the league.
Sigler, a two-way mainstay at linebacker and running back, ranked No. 4 in the WAC with 75 tackles, trailing first-teamers Justin McPhail (Liberal) and Todd Middleton (Dodge City) and Alec Schmitt (Dodge City). Schmitt also led the WAC in sacks (7.5).
Dodge City’s Jesse Trent, a standout center on offense and lineman on defense, had 5.5 sacks, as did teammate Bruce Campbell, who caused two fumbles and recovered a pair.
Sell, another defensive playmaker for the Panthers, had a co-WAC best three interceptions, joining Hays’ David Cardinal and Helfrich, an impact player on both sides of the ball.
The top running back was 1,000-yard rusher Casey Sedbrook of Hays. Sedbrook and Helfrich each had 11 rushing TDs to lead the conference.
