Undefeated Bulldogs are Conference Champs – Again

The Kearney Bulldogs took care of business on a chilly Thursday night with a 63-6 win over the Excelsior Springs Tigers. In their final game of the regular season the Bulldogs rushed for 283 yards and passed for 158 more, emerging as the Suburban Blue Conference champions and establishing themselves as the one-seed with a first-round bye in the Class-4, District-8 playoffs.

Senior starting quarterback Carter Temple was 4 of 8 for 80 yards passing. Photo by Eric Stevens.

“I'm so happy our district moved the game up a day,” said head coach Logan Minnick. “What an unbelievable weather night for football and for senior night for all the activities involved.”

“I think we had seven or eight different people score touchdowns tonight,” said Minnick. “That's always fun. I'm so proud of our kids, you know this is three undefeated seasons out of four, and you know those are hard to get. You've got a senior class with three of them. I’m so proud of the kids’ effort and glad we got to honor them tonight.”

Kearney got the entire roster involved in this senior night blow-out. Twelve different players contributed to the rushing total, including some underclassmen and senior defensive players, who throughout the season, had limited opportunities to touch the ball on offense. Senior running back Kendahl Davis carried the ball 11 times for 61 yards and led the team with two touchdowns. Senior defensive linemen Isaac Beaver and Jackson Leigh-Kent both scored rushing touchdowns on short yardage plunges into the end zone. Senior cornerback and backup quarterback Brad Doll scored on a 6-yard carry to the end zone.

Dryden Hendrix ran for 68 yards and a touchdown. Lindsey Matthew had one 20-yard carry. Freshmen, Colt Weymann had two carries for 37 yards and Landry Parks ran for seven. Senior running back Corbin Emmons had 34 yards rushing and a 51-yard touchdown reception. Sophomore running back, Cruise Emmons carried for 18 yards.

Senior starting quarterback Carter Temple was 4 of 8 for 80 yards passing and stepped aside in the second half for Brad Doll who was 3 of 3 for 66 yards. Later in the game, sophomore Caden Webster was 2 of 2 for 12 yards.

On special teams, Drew Nelson was 7 of 7 on point-after kicks. Kale Tucking had a 56-yard punt return for touchdown. Defensively, sophomore Byrom Braxton had two interceptions.

“We were very excited that we got every single healthy kid that was on the sideline in the game tonight,” said Minnick. “And that’s including we dressed six freshmen tonight.”

District playoffs begin next Thursday, October 30. With their first-round bye, the Bulldogs will face the winner of Van Horn vs. Excelsior Springs on Friday, November 7. District playoff brackets can be found at MSHSAA.org.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.