Bulldogs Fall Short in Opener

Friday night marked the 2023 season opener for the Kearney Bulldogs as they hosted the Platte County Pirates in the 92 Highway showdown.

The first game of any season is always filled with excitement and anticipation, and this year was no different. The Bulldogs were coming off a strong 10-0 start in 2022, in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The team had 17 returning seniors, they were playing on a newly resurfaced field and they were ready to bring the heat.

Jacob Dillon connects on a 32 yard field goal

Before the game started, heat was the topic of the day. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees all week long, practices were shifted to the early morning to keep players safe and the Friday night game time was flexed to 8pm in an attempt to find more favorable playing conditions.

The Pirates and Bulldogs are both formidable teams with great coaching staff, and it showed. Under some of the most challenging conditions for a football game, both teams were able to rotate players in and out with ease and the game plans appeared to be carried out with efficiency. It was not the normal sloppy and disorganized performance you might expect to see in game one of the season.

Platte County won the coin toss and elected to start on defense. The Kearney offense marched down the field with relative ease, however the progress was stopped when quarterback Casey Rooney was intercepted as the Bulldog’s entered the red zone. Platte County would maintain possession of the ball for the remainder of the first quarter, however, the Bulldog defense stood strong and finally regained possession after an unsuccessful 4th down conversion attempt by the Pirates.

When the Bulldogs returned to the field, the offense was lead by quarterback Grant Noland. He would be the primary quarterback for the remainder of the game as an injury to starting quarterback Casey Rooney ended his night early.

The first score of the game did not come until 4:24 left to go in the first half following a 32 yard field goal by Bulldog kicker Jacob Dillon. Kearney would take the 3-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The game saw no additional scoring until 2:57 left in the third quarter when Pirate quarterback Rocco Marriott connected with Tres Baskerville on an 18 yard touchdown pass. The play would give the Pirates their first lead of the game putting them ahead 10-7.

The fourth quarter would see more scoring than the previous three quarters combined. Kearney lead the charge when with 11:08 to go, Bulldog running back Tristan Williams broke through the Pirate defense with a 14 yard run which allowed the Bulldogs to reclaim the lead 10-7.

Platte County would not be deterred however, as they went on to score 14 unanswered points which began with a 64 yard touchdown pass from Marriott to wide receiver Braiden Stevens putting the Pirates up 14-10. The Pirates began to put distance between themselves and the Bulldogs following a 45 yard rushing touchdown from running back Adam Gisler which would put the Pirates ahead 21-10 with 7:38 left to go in the contest.

As the game progressed, player injuries and stoppages of play became more frequent, with cramps due to the heat and humidity being the main culprit. At one point in the fourth quarter, the game saw a nearly 24 minute stoppage of play as medical personnel attended to a member of the Platte County Pirates on the sidelines.

When play resumed, the Bulldogs fought their way through the Pirate defense and with 2:06 left in the game, Grant Noland completed a 25 yard touchdown pass to Bryce Page. Following a successful two-point conversion on a smash mouth rush by the Bulldogs Grant Noland, Kearney cut into the Pirate lead and only trailed 21-18.

The hopeful comeback by the Bulldogs was stymied following an unsuccessful on-side kick which was recovered by the Pirates. Platte County was able to run out the clock and walk away with the 21-18 victory.

The Kearney Bulldogs (0-1) will face the Fort Osage Indians (0-1) next week at home with pregame starting at 6:40pm and kickoff at 7pm. You can follow all the action on KPGZ 102.7 FM, online at 1027kearneymo.com or on the KPGZ App. You can also get in depth analysis of the game on the Coach Minnick show, Thursday at 11:30am.

KPGZ Sports - Jim Dickerson contributed to this story