Bo Black spent the last 13 seasons at Great Bend and compiled an 83-47 record, but the program had no more than five wins in any season since 2007. In the offseason, Black knew it was time for a change and eventually decided on Hays High, the Panthers’ longtime rival. Former HHS coach Ryan Cornelsen, a good friend of Black’s, took the open job at Hutchinson.
Since then, Black has had the full spectrum from the Great Bend community. Black said he has had eggs thrown at his house, cars keyed and trash showing up in his front yard, and “being totally ignored” at the school for the last two and a half months.
At the same time, Black said Great Bend had “a lot of really good people.” It meant a lot to him last week when he received 36 phone calls or text messages from people in the Great Bend community wishing him good luck before Hays High’s season-opening 12-10 road win at Olathe Northwest.
This week, Hays High, ranked No. 3 in Class 4A, Division I, travels to Great Bend, which opened with a 19-0 loss to Leavenworth. During the preseason and all week, Black has heard from multiple media outlets and fans asking him about the matchup with his former team.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Black had yet to mention the words “Great Bend” to his team and instead has focused on getting better.
“I am ready to get it over with and just coach football,” Black said.
“That’s kind of been the approach that we have taken with the kids this week. We didn’t play real good last week, and people have a lot of high expectations for us.”
Tony Crough, the Panthers’ defensive coordinator last season, has taken over as Great Bend head coach. Great Bend had just 81 total yards, and quarterback Shade Wondra, last year’s starting middle linebacker, finished 9 of 16 for 56 yards in his first career start.
“We didn’t come out and have our best performance last week,” Crough said. “Coming right back in Week 2 and having the Hays game, our kids are up and you would never guess that we struggled last week at all.”
Hays High features senior quarterback Alex Delton, a Kansas State commit who will graduate early and head to Manhattan in January.
Delton, a three-year starter, blends outstanding speed, competitiveness and a strong arm with a humble attitude. Delton had 2,008 total yards and 28 TDs accounted for as a sophomore, but had an injury-plagued junior year. He collected 84 rushing and 73 passing yards last Friday. Crough called Delton the state’s best player.
“He’s a pretty unique kid and a real pleasure to coach,” Black said.
While Black and Delton have dominated the headlines, other significant storylines will play a role in Friday’s contest, including a change in scheduling and some other talented players on both teams.
Friday marks the 77th meeting between the two Western Athletic Conference schools located just an hour apart, the most meetings between one school in Hays High history, according to Indian broadcaster Dustin Armbruster. Great Bend leads the series 40-35-1.
Great Bend won eight in a row, but Hays High went 4-1 in the Cornelsen era, including the last three. The game traditionally is Week 7, the last WAC game for both schools and first Class 5A district contest, but Hays High moved to Class 4A, Division I this fall. Now, Black said a Week 2 matchup “lessens the importance.”
Two of the five Cornelsen/Black contests are famous games. In 2009, in front of around 5,000 fans, HHS defeated Great Bend 20-14 to capture an undefeated league title, the first in school history. Two years later, Hays High won 43-42 in a classic. Last season, Black and Cornelsen met at the 50-yard line before an eventual 47-14 Hays High victory and looked up into the stands.
“The Great Bend-Hays rivalry is just not what it used to – there is nobody in the stands,” Black said. “Nobody seemed to care about it last year, it just wasn’t that big of a deal. Now, all of a sudden, everybody wants to talk about what a huge rivalry it is.”
Outside of Delton, Hays High has several other talents, especially senior lineman Brandon Hardwick, an all-state selection last year and a two-time all-league performer.
“Brandon is the kind of kid who lives to play football,” Black said.
“He is not going to smile a whole lot. I kind of have a goofy personality at times, but I learned right away that he is probably not the one that you want to goof around with. … You would be hard pressed to find anybody who works as hard as him or tries as hard as him.”
Plus, senior receiver/returner Hayden Kreutzer, one of the state’s best pole vaulters, had a 50-yard punt return and four catches last week to set up a score and had a strong 2013.
“Hayden, in my opinion, is the straw that stirs the cup,” Black said.
“Alex is the one that gets all the headlines and he deserves them, but Hayden is just a blue-collar worker, and he is right up my alley. I would love a kid like that to marry my daughter someday. He wants to play offense, wants to play defense, wants to return punts, wants to return kickoffs. He’s the type of kid that would never even cross his mind that he needed his break.”
Crough, in his first head coaching job, graduated from Garden City and played football and baseball at Fort Hays, where he was an all-conference linebacker in 2003. Crough coached at Andover and in Texas before he was Great Bend’s defensive coordinator last year.
Crough’s wife, Chrisy, is a Hays native and has her family in Hays.
Crough quickly learned about the rivalry when he moved back, and Chrisy’s family has become Great Bend fans.
“They drive around Hays with Panther heads on the front of their cars, and they’ve joined the Great Bend Panther booster club, and she has completely bough in,” Crough said.
Great Bend also features its own Division I talent with senior lineman Jayce Brack, a shot put and discus star. Brack (nine tackles in Week 1) has visits lined up to Kansas State, LSU, Oklahoma and Missouri, among others “He is kind of the life of the team,” Crough said. “He is kind of squirrely and he is fun to be around. Great athlete. He’s a big bodied-kid, but he is really just a giant athlete playing defensive line. … Our defense kind of centers around him.”
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