Bulldogs are 3-0 with 34-14 Win over Smithville

Kearney took another step forward in conference and district competition with a hard-hitting 34-14 victory over rival Smithville. The Warriors and Bulldogs are top-ranked teams in both Missouri Class-4 and the Suburban Blue Conference.

Kearney took another step forward in conference and district competition with a hard-hitting 34-14 victory over rival Smithville. Photo - Eric Stevens.

On a hot, 80-plus degree night in which both teams fumbled twice and turned the ball over on downs, it was a gritty performance that lived up to the hype of a long-standing rivalry.

“I’m proud of our kids’ effort. To be honest, I think we can play a little better than what we did, but anytime you beat a Smithville program, you're happy regardless of what the score is,” said head coach Logan Minnick. “That's a really good football team.”

Kearney linebacker Kale Tucking set the tone physically with a recovered Smithville fumble in the opening minutes of the game.

The Bulldogs scored first late in the first quarter on a Carter Temple 22-yard touchdown pass to Hudson Best.

Temple scored on a 3-yard keeper midway into the second quarter. A missed 2-point conversion attempt left the score 13-0.

Temple finished the game scoring three rushing touchdowns (19 carries for 80 yards) and two passing touchdowns (9 of 14 for 111 yards).

Smithville’s workhorse running back, Lincoln Roske had 97 rushing yards on 19 carries, but a stout Bulldog defense forced him into two fumbles and held him to one touchdown.

Roske scored on a 3-yard carry with two minutes to play in the first half. The Bulldogs answered with a Carter Temple goal-line blast into the endzone, giving Kearney a 20-7 halftime advantage.

Temple threw to running back Dryden Hendrix on a spectacular 40-yard catch and run with 4:28 to go in the fourth quarter.

Smithville came back with a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Quinten Morse to Peyton Steffen with 9:22 remaining in the game.

“After they get that touchdown on fourth down – what a catch by (Steffen) – we had two guys on it, and he still comes up with it,” said Minnick. “I told our offense, (Smithville) is not getting the football back. We're going on a 7-minute drive here. We're closing this game out. We're going to play Kearney football, we're not going to put it in the air, we're going to run the football and win in the weight room.”

Kearney travels to Class-6 Park Hill next week. Bulldog linebacker Aiden Arellano, one of the team’s leading tacklers, sees room for improvement.

“We need to play better than we did tonight,” said Arellano. “We obviously did very well but that's not our best.”

The most satisfying story about this team so far this season is the Kearney Bulldogs just beat their state-ranked rival by 20 points and held them to two touchdowns. And according to the head coach and team leaders, this 3-0 Kearney Bulldog football team – with a nasty defense, a dual-threat, touchdown machine at quarterback, starter-level player depth across the roster, and a state-level, top-tier coaching staff – all recognize there is so much more to accomplish.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.