Football Game Preview: Hays Indians vs. Great Bend Panthers + Official Tickets

The Hays Indians will challenge the Great Bend Panthers on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Hays is on a roll after a high-stakes playoff matchup on Friday. They put the hurt on Hutchinson with a sharp 27-6 win. Winning may never get old, but the Indians sure are getting used to it with their third in a row.

Hays found their leader in sophomore Brody Hageman, who rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Another player making a difference was Jaxon Prediger, who threw for 120 yards and a pair of TDs on only seven passes.

Hays was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 221 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in November of 2024.

Hays didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Caleb Thompson and Nicholas Cisneros.

Meanwhile, Great Bend won against Newton last Friday with 49 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Friday. The Panthers claimed a resounding 49-7 victory over Bishop Carroll. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Panthers' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked fourth, while the Golden Eagles are ranked 47th).

Great Bend's win came from a few key players Hays will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Daxton Minton, who rushed for 193 yards and three scores on only eight carries. His longest rush was for an impressive 59 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Ian Premer was another key player, rushing for 138 yards and a pair of touchdowns on only nine carries.

Hays' win bumped their record up to 8-2. As for Great Bend, their victory bumped their record up to 10-0.

Hays suffered a grim 43-19 defeat to Great Bend when the teams last played back in October. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Premer, who rushed for 134 yards and three TDs on only nine carries, and also picked up 113 receiving yards and one score. Now that the Indians know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.