In this his fourth season at Derby High School, head coach Brandon Clark has built the Panthers into a winner.
Derby (7-3), which has advanced to the Class 6A state football playoffs in each of the last three seasons, entertain Dodge City (8-2) Friday night at Panther Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7.
Derby has made a steady climb since Clark's arrival prior to the start of the 2006 season. The Panthers were 9-2 last season after finishing 5-5 two years ago. They were 1-8 in his first season.
"Last year, we made it to the state semifinals and got beat out by Junction City," Clark said.
Junction City, which went on to win the state championship last season, was eliminated in district play two weeks ago after losing to unbeaten Manhattan. Three weeks ago, Junction City lost to Topeka High, which lost to Dodge City 35-14 last Friday in first-round playoff action.
Derby, in the meantime, advanced to meet the Demons after defeating Wichita Northwest 24-14.
"They have stayed focused," Clark said. "We're getting better and better as the season has progressed.
"This last week, I was really excited about how well we played."
Naturally, Derby is concerned with trying to contain Dodge City tailback Jace Banner, who has rushed for a 178.7 yards-per-game average and set a single-game school record against Topeka High with 305 rushing yards in 38 carries. He scored four touchdowns and simply wore down the Trojans’ defense.
“A special player,” Clark said of Banner, an NCAA Division-I recruit. “He has a knack for people bounce off of him. We have our hands full this week.
“He’s one of those guys that could be really flashy, but he’s more of a hard-working kind of running back ... a guy that can get a lot of yards by himself because he just runs hard and he’s determined.”
Clark has his own D-I player on his roster in wide receiver Devin Hedgepeth, who has already committed to Oklahoma State University.
Undoubtedly quarterback Tyler Harrison’s top weapon through the air, Hedgepeth has caught 40 passes for 737 yards for an 18.43 yards-per-catch average.
Harrison has completed 48.8 percent of his passes (102-for-209) for 1,408 yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“They mix up their formations a little bit,” Dodge City head coach Justin Burke said. “They run out of the shot-gun and the pistol.
