Defending Western Athletic Conference champion Great Bend High School extended its winning streak against No. 5 Dodge City in an improbable way.
The Panthers rallied from a 27-7 halftime deficit, keyed by a pair of second-half punt blocks for touchdowns, to stun the previously unbeaten Red Demons 28-27 Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
"It was just two big plays," said Great Bend coach Bo Black, who has never lost to Dodge City in the previous nine seasons. "(Special teams) is something we work on and spend a lot of time on.
"It was definitely the game-breaker tonight. More than anything, Dodge City has a very, very good football team."
Class 6A Dodge City (4-1 overall, 1-1 WAC), which hasn't beaten the 5A Panthers (3-2, 1-1) since 1999, appeared to be on the brink of finally snapping the losing skid against its longtime nemesis.
But the Demons' fortunes turned sour after they were shut out in the second half, yielding 21 unanswered points.
Great Bend cut its deficit to 27-14 midway through the third quarter, when wide receiver Allan Holt caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Greg Hildebrand at the 7:05 mark.
Then things got wild late in the third quarter, when Dodge punter Landon Head had his punt blocked by Jordan Basye and recovered by Brett McManaman in the end zone. The play slashed the margin to 27-21 with 16.2 seconds left in the third quarter.
Both teams canceled each other out in the final period before Dakota Ellis came up with the Panthers' second punt block. Basye scooped up the ball and ran into the end zone from 25 yards out with 4:02 left in regulation, tying the game at 27.
Angel Gutierrez, who made all four of his extra-point kicks and also had four kickoffs land out of the end zone for touchbacks, nailed the game-winning extra point.
Dodge quarterback Ty Thomas, who entered the game with 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions, was picked off three times by the Panthers.
Holt, who led the WAC in interceptions last season with four, had two Friday, including one with 1:14 left to negate the Demons' last-ditch opportunity at the Great Bend 42.
Instead of showcasing its spread offense at the outset, Dodge used a smash-mouth running game, featuring big backs Bruce Campbell and Laton Dowling.
Campbell finished with 146 rushing yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns. Dowling totaled 22 yards in seven carries.
The Red Demons took the opening kickoff and drove 77 yards in 14 plays. The drive was capped by Campbell's 5-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead with five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Campbell carried the ball on six of their first nine plays of the drive, including 14- and 7-yard gains.
Lightning struck the Panthers early in the second quarter, when Dodge sophomore Trey Hallman flashed his way through the heart of Great Bend's special teams and broke 85 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 11:39 left in the second quarter.
It appeared the Demons were about to stick a fork in the Panthers after Campbell broke free for a 43-yard scoring run with 6:08 left before halftime.
And, to complicate matters for the Panthers, Dodge's Landon Head's 32-yard interception return with 19.9 seconds left in the half increased the margin to 27-7.
But Great Bend answered in a big way in the second half.
"Coach (Justin) Burke doesn't want to hear it at the end of the game," Black said, "but they get the Banner kid back (tailback Jace Banner, who was serving a one-game suspension) and they're going to run and make some noise in 6A.
"It's just a big win for us against a great football team."
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Defending Western Athletic Conference champion Great Bend High School extended its winning streak against No. 5 Dodge City in an improbable way.
The Panthers rallied from a 27-7 halftime deficit, keyed by a pair of second-half punt blocks for touchdowns, to stun the previously unbeaten Red Demons 28-27 Friday night at Memorial Stadium.
"It was just two big plays," said Great Bend coach Bo Black, who has never lost to Dodge City in the previous nine seasons. "(Special teams) is something we work on and spend a lot of time on.
"It was definitely the game-breaker tonight. More than anything, Dodge City has a very, very good football team."
Class 6A Dodge City (4-1 overall, 1-1 WAC), which hasn't beaten the 5A Panthers (3-2, 1-1) since 1999, appeared to be on the brink of finally snapping the losing skid against its longtime nemesis.
But the Demons' fortunes turned sour after they were shut out in the second half, yielding 21 unanswered points.
Great Bend cut its deficit to 27-14 midway through the third quarter, when wide receiver Allan Holt caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Greg Hildebrand at the 7:05 mark.
Then things got wild late in the third quarter, when Dodge punter Landon Head had his punt blocked by Jordan Basye and recovered by Brett McManaman in the end zone. The play slashed the margin to 27-21 with 16.2 seconds left in the third quarter.
Both teams canceled each other out in the final period before Dakota Ellis came up with the Panthers' second punt block. Basye scooped up the ball and ran into the end zone from 25 yards out with 4:02 left in regulation, tying the game at 27.
Angel Gutierrez, who made all four of his extra-point kicks and also had four kickoffs land out of the end zone for touchbacks, nailed the game-winning extra point.
Dodge quarterback Ty Thomas, who entered the game with 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions, was picked off three times by the Panthers.
Holt, who led the WAC in interceptions last season with four, had two Friday, including one with 1:14 left to negate the Demons' last-ditch opportunity at the Great Bend 42.
Instead of showcasing its spread offense at the outset, Dodge used a smash-mouth running game, featuring big backs Bruce Campbell and Laton Dowling.
Campbell finished with 146 rushing yards on 26 carries and two touchdowns. Dowling totaled 22 yards in seven carries.
The Red Demons took the opening kickoff and drove 77 yards in 14 plays. The drive was capped by Campbell's 5-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead with five minutes left in the opening quarter.
Campbell carried the ball on six of their first nine plays of the drive, including 14- and 7-yard gains.
Lightning struck the Panthers early in the second quarter, when Dodge sophomore Trey Hallman flashed his way through the heart of Great Bend's special teams and broke 85 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 11:39 left in the second quarter.
It appeared the Demons were about to stick a fork in the Panthers after Campbell broke free for a 43-yard scoring run with 6:08 left before halftime.
And, to complicate matters for the Panthers, Dodge's Landon Head's 32-yard interception return with 19.9 seconds left in the half increased the margin to 27-7.
But Great Bend answered in a big way in the second half.
"Coach (Justin) Burke doesn't want to hear it at the end of the game," Black said, "but they get the Banner kid back (tailback Jace Banner, who was serving a one-game suspension) and they're going to run and make some noise in 6A.
"It's just a big win for us against a great football team."
Western Athletic Conference
Friday night at Great Bend
Great Bend High School 28,
Dodge City High School 27
Dodge City 7 20 0 0 -- 27
Great Bend 0 7 14 7 -- 28
Scoring summary
First quarter
Dodge -- Bruce Campbell 5 run (Ginther kick), 5:00
Second quarter
Dodge -- Trey Hallman 82 punt return (kick failed), 11:39
Dodge -- Campbell 43 run (kick failed), 6:08
Dodge -- Landon Head 32 interception return (Campbell run), 19.9
Third quarter
Great Bend -- Allan Holt 26 pass from Greg Hildebrand (Angel Gutierrez kick), 7:05
Great Bend -- Brett McManaman recovered blocked punt in end zone (Angel Gutierrez kick), 16.2
Fourth quarter
Great Bend -- Jordan Basye 25 return on punt block for touchdown.
Game statistics
DCHS GBHS
First downs 13 9
Rushes-Yds 43-191 28-64
Passing yards 94 147
Att-Comp-Int 10-24-3 10-18-2
Total yards 285 211
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Dodge, 26-146, Dowling 7-22, Ty Thomas 8-5, Matt Esquibel 1-5, Zach Harvey 1-3; Great Bend, Hildebrand 14-34, Basye 14-30.
PASSING -- Dodge, Thomas 10-24-3 57; Great Bend, Hildebrand 10-18-2 147.
RECEIVING -- Dodge, Harvey 5-45, Head 4-37, Dowling 1-12; Great Bend, Holt 5-84, Logan Buehler 2-44, Ellis 1-11, Connor Williams 1-6, Basye 1-2.
