Newton to face Great Bend in Class 5A playoffs

By Mark Schnabel
Newton Kansan

8-0 Panthers are the top seed in the West Region

The Newton High School football team will hit the road for the first round of the Class 5A playoffs, taking on top-ranked and unbeaten Great Bend at 7 p.m. Friday at Panther Stadium in Great Bend.

Great Bend, 8-0, is coming off a 41-14 win over Garden City last week to remain unbeaten and win the Western Athletic Conference.

Newton, 0-8, fell to Arkansas City 40-15, missing out on several scoring chances early, including a drive that ended on downs at the one. The Bulldogs scored 20 points the second quarter and held off the Railers in the second half.

Great Bend is led by senior quarterback Daxton Minton, who has hit 81 of 115 passes for 1,395 yards with 22 touchdowns and two interceptions. Minton also has 56 carries for 431 yards and five touchdowns.

Conner Holladay is the Panthers’ leading rusher with 74 carries for 566 yards and seven touchdowns. Ian Premer has 22 carries for 245 yards and and eight touchdowns.

Premer leads the receivers with 28 catches for 595 yards and 12 touchdowns. Cooper Ohnmacht has 32 catches for 473 yards and four touchdowns. Jacob Hall has eight catches for 144 yards and four touchdowns.

Kale Kern leads the defense with 89 total tackles, 11 for a loss. Trenton Kern has 77 total tackles. Jacob Hall has 41 tackles. Cole Fanshier and Holladay each have three sacks. Premer has six interceptions, followed by Koehn Ribordy with four and Ohnmacht with two,

Freshman kicker Giovanni Cruz has hit 22 of 24 extra-point kicks.

Newton is led by senior quarterback Kolbie Espada, who has hit 75 of 169 passes for 1,034 yards with nine touchdowns and seven interceptions. Espada also leads the team in rushing with 88 carries for 375 yards and two touchdowns.

In four games, junior Kingston Henry has 65 carries for 277 yards rushing.

Christian Henderson leads the receivers with 21 catches for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Sophomore Landyn Rains has 18 catches for 231 yards receiving and a touchdown. In five games, Clyde Thomas has 15 catches for 205 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior Jonathan Hill leads the defense with 48 total tackles, followed by senior Kaleb Jacobs with 47 and sophomore Jaxson Hiebert with 34. Henderson has eight tackles for losses.

The winner will face the winner between Bishop Carroll (5-3) and Valley Center (4-4) in the second round. That game will be played Thursday.