HAYS – Great Bend’s Ian Premer was a one-man wrecking crew in a highlighted anticipated showdown with rival Hays, scoring five touchdowns to help Great Bend break away for a 43-19 win last Friday.

“The atmosphere was really exciting for me,” Premer said. “Our stands, their stands, it was a great atmosphere. Especially in that second half, I feel like I elevated my level of play to kind of match that.”

Great Bend led 7-0 at halftime before scoring 36 points in the second half to move to 7-0 on the season. 

The Notre Dame commit Premer had touchdowns runs of 2, 11, 54 yards, caught a 64-yard TD pass and delivered the final dagger with a 38-yard pick-six. 

“The downfield blocking was really great,” Premer said. “Most of the time with teams, you get tackled because those receivers aren't holding their blocks, but we did a great job of sustaining blocks and kind of allowing me to make some big plays tonight.”

Premer’s most impressive highlights were his third-quarter touchdowns. On the 54-yard run, he shed several Hays tackle attempts to break free and give the Panthers a 14-0 lead. He restored a 14-point lead in the frame after taking a screen pass to the house on a play that Hays initially had bottled up. 

“The run he had earlier in the game was probably the best one I'd ever seen – until the screen when he broke free and just did what Ian does,” Great Bend coach Erin Beck said.

Hays (5-2) was still within striking distance in the fourth quarter. The Indians got within eight on a Braxton Basgall touchdown run early in the fourth quarter before Great Bend quarterback Daxton Minton answered with a 25-yard touchdown run. 

Holden Lind scored on a 54-yard touchdown run to bring Hays back within nine but the Indians missed the two-point try and Premer broke loose for a 44-yard run to set up his 2-yard TD run before wrapping it up with his interception return for a touchdown. Premer finished with 134 rushing yards on nine carries. 

Lind, one of the state’s top running backs, finished with 253 yards rushing. 

“We knew we were not going to be able to hold Lind from getting loose,” Beck said. “But you got to limit some of those big runs. And I thought our defense did a good job of that, of understanding how good he is and riding to the football and hitting him and not giving up too many of the big plays.”

Great Bend, which clinched a share of the WAC title, avenged last year’s second-round playoff loss to the Indians. The Panthers know there’s a strong chance they will meet the Indians again next month. 

“This is a huge win for us, especially after they ended our season last year,” Premer said. “We really wanted to get them back and we did that tonight, but we're continuing to look forward and prepare for Garden city next week and the playoffs after that.

“We're both great teams and hopefully we can meet again.” 

OTHER WESTERN KANSAS FOOTBALL STANDOUTS 

– St. John’s Braxton Alpers accounted for seven touchdowns in the Tigers’ 68-38 win over Stafford. Alpers ran for 356 yards and six touchdowns on 22 carries and also threw a touchdown pass. He also logged 15 tackles. 

– Ashland/Bucklin notched a 54-52 comeback win over Otis-Bison in the six-player ranks. The Blue Jays were down 24 points in the second quarter and trailed by 20 in the third quarter. The fourth quarter featured five lead changes. Ethan Bates ran for three touchdowns and threw for four. Miles Haskell caught three TD passes and had one rushing TD. 

– Cody Wright from Colby had 248 all-purpose yards in the Eagles’ 44-23 win over Lakin. He ran for 114 yards and three touchdowns and caught five passes for 134 yards and a TD. 

– Thunder Ridge’s Evan Slavik became the first Longhorn to record 100 career receptions.