On Friday Great Bend will have to hit the road after three straight games at home. They will venture away from home to square off against the Dodge City Demons at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
Great Bend is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They simply couldn't be stopped on Friday as they easily beat North 61-7 at home. Given the Panthers' advantage in MaxPreps' Kansas football rankings (they are ranked 21st, while the RedHawks are ranked 187th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Daxton Minton continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, rushing for 38 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for 63 yards and two touchdowns. Cooper Ohnmacht was another key player, picking up 28 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Great Bend was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 280 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in September of 2023.
Great Bend's defense made their presence known, laying out the QB four times. North's QB won't forget Brody Schnoebelen anytime soon given he sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Dodge City didn't have too much trouble with Liberal on the road on Friday as they won 33-14. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Demons.
Dodge City's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Alan Flores, who threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns while completing 81.3% of his passes. Jayden Amaro Jz was Flores' top target, picking up 129 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Dodge City's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged three passes before it was all said and done. It was truly a group effort as Bryson Unzueta, Cooper Speer, and Mason Phelps picked up one apiece. Speer also set a new season high mark in receiving yards with 109.
Great Bend pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Dodge City, their win ended a four-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 3-1.
Friday's contest might be decided in the on the ground. Great Bend has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 148.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Dodge City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 219.2. It's looking like Friday's match might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Everything came up roses for Great Bend against Dodge City when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the squad secured a 28-0 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Great Bend since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
