BY JIM MISUNAS
jmisunas@gbtribune.com
For the second consecutive week, Great Bend's football team delivered a huge play on the opening kickoff.
Aiden Davidson recovered the opening kickoff on Omar Razo's kick to help the Panthers roar to a 20-0 lead. The Panthers pounced on two fumbles and interceptions by Ian Premer and Jacob Hall preserved a second-half shutout for a dominating 26-14 victory over 6A Olathe South.
The Panthers' defense held their own at the line of scrimmage holding Olathe South tailback Max Armstrong to 78 yards on 22 hard-earned carries after he rushed for more than 200 yards last week against defending 5A state champion Mill Valley.
Great Bend football coach Erin Beck was masterful mixing runs and passes with a halfback pass by Cooper Ohmacht delivered for a 40-yard touchdown to Jacob Hall.
"This win ranks right up there with any we've had," Beck said. "I was impressed with our whole team. We had great effort from every player out there to make things happen. I knew if we held Armstrong under 100 yards, I liked our chances."
Panther quarterback Daxton Minton completed 13 passes for 133 yards and created two of the game's clutch plays with touchdown dashes of 4 and 8 yards. Minton converted the opening touchdown on a 4-yard run.
Owen Kaiser's alert fumble recovery on Armstrong's fumble set up a 1-play scoring drive. Minton took the snap, handed off to Premer, who flipped the football back to Ohnmacht, who threw a perfect 40-yard touchdown strike to Jacob Hall for a 12-0 lead.
"How about that double/reverse pass," Beck said. ""It helps to have the type of players we have. They are great ballhandlers. Cooper was really good tonight."
After a 3-and-out defensive stop, Ohmacht caught a 12-yard pass and soared above defender Elijah Mullen for an acrobatic 32-yard touchdown reception from Minton for a 20-0 lead after Ohmacht's 2-point conversion.
The Falcons rallied on an 18-play drive and Armstrong's 1-yard touchdown. Anthony Harris converted a 65-yard bomb from Gage Lee for a 20-14 Panther halftime lead.
Halftime came at a perfect time.
The Panthers rolled 80 yards in seven plays capped by Minton's elusive 8-yard scoring dash. Jace Schartz and Premer caught 19-yard passes and Ohnmacht grabbed a 13-yard reception.
"We went back and looked at plays and formations and made a few adjustments," Beck said. "We caught our breath and went back to work."
The Panthers shut out the Falcons after halftime despite yielding 180 yards rushing and 155 yards passing. Quarterback Lee finished 1 of 9 down the stretch with interceptions by Hall and Premer with a third pick by Hall nullified by a roughing penalty.
Linebacker Trenton Kern and Koehn Ribordy tackled a scrambling Lee at the Panther 4-yard line to prevent a first-and-goal situation in the third quarter.
Olathe South (0-2) drove to the Panther 33-yard line on the Falcons' final drive when four penalties cost them 30 yards of field position.
Olathe South 0 14 0 0 – 14
Great Bend 20 0 6 0 – 26
GB—Daxton Minton 4 run (kick fails)
GB—Jacob Hall 40 pass from Cooper Ohnmacht (kick fails)
GB—Ohnmacht 32 pass from Minton (Ohnmacht pass from Minton)
OS—Max Armstrong 1 run (Cooper Hodapp kick)
OS—Anthony Harris 65 pass from Gage Lee (Hodapp kick)
GB—Minton 8 run (pass fails)
RUSHING—OS—38-180; Lee 16-102; Armstrong 22-78; GB—28-112; Jace Schartz 13-64; Minton 7-27; Ohnmacht 6-15; Ian Premer 2-6.
PASSING—OS—Lee 13-26-2, 155; GB—Minton 13-22-1, 133; Ohnmacht 1-1-0, 40
RECEIVING—OS—Harris 7-98; Hayes 2-22; Aldred 2-11; Olson 1-6; Armstrong 2-18; GB—Ohnmacht 7-73; Hall 4-65; Premer 2-26; Schartz 1-19
