Kearney Played Up and Won Out – Takes Down Rockhurst 22-13

A vicious Bulldog defense held the Hawklets to 13 points in a highly anticipated class 4 versus class 6 slugfest between two metro heavyweights.

Kearney (4-0) jumped ahead early on a third-and-goal, Carter Temple to Cruise Emmons screen pass, culminating a 7-minute drive on the Bulldogs’ opening possession. Before the end of the first quarter, Temple delivered an arching spiral to a wide-open Matthew Lindsey for a 52-yard touchdown catch and stayed on target passing to Ian Sheller for the two-point conversion putting the Bulldogs up 15-0.

Carter Temple (15) breaks free for a Bulldog touchdown. Photo by Kale Davis, Backroads Designs.

“We just wanted to get some points up on the board early,” said Temple. “We came out strong the first two drives and punched them in the mouth and that set the tone for the entire game.”

Midway through the second quarter, Rockhurst quarterback Garrett Miller fired a 36-yard touchdown pass to Cash Lewandowski, putting Rockhurst on the board 15-7.

Rockhurst (2-2) entered the contest averaging 34 points per game. Kearney’s defensive ends Grant Bogert and Lane Cook pressured and hit Miller all evening – Bogert with six quarterback pressures and one sack and Cook with four quarterback pressures.

Kearney nose tackle Ryker Bruto recovered a fumble, but perhaps more significantly, he clogged up the interior of one of the biggest offensive lines in the state for four quarters, facing the likes of Rockhurst center Jack Sprague.

Kearney senior linebacker Luke Tucking was a wrecking ball in the Rockhurst backfield with seven solo tackles, one tackle for loss, four quarterback pressures, a sack and a forced fumble.

“We knew that running back (Ben Hayes) was good. We set our game plan around stopping the run and keeping their quarterback contained,” Tucking said. “Those guys are definitely the strongest I've ever played and probably the biggest. It was fun playing them.”

Neither team scored in the third quarter. At 11:52 in the fourth, Carter Temple caught the Rockhurst defense on their heels. Temple faked a handoff to Cruise Emmons and darted 39 yards for the touchdown and a 22-7 lead following the Grant Bogert extra point.

“Their (Rockhurst) running linebackers were filling gaps like crazy,” said Bulldog center Karter Pogue. “Our mindset was as soon as you have that double-team clamped, the guard is going to the linebacker, making sure the running backs are getting those (extra) yards, example: Carter Temple scoring that fourth quarter touchdown.”

“I can't give enough props to the offensive line,” Temple said. “They came into this game wanting to work. We literally can't do it without them.”

With 2:12 to play in the game, Kearney leading 22-7, Rockhurst quarterback Garret Miller hit Tristan Johnson on a 10-yard touchdown reception. A missed extra point wasn’t a factor in the final score. Rockhurst successfully recovered an onside kick with 2:09 to play.

With a first down from the Kearney 34-yard line, Rockhurst snapped the ball in what would be their last scoring opportunity. Miller zipped a pass to the endzone that landed in the hands of Bulldog linebacker Kale Tucking who brought the ball out of the endzone, zigzagging to midfield where the Kearney offense would finish the game in their victory formation.

“It's a full team effort,” said Kearney head coach Logan Minnick. “What an unbelievably cool win. I think this is one of the biggest regular season wins we've had since being here. I’m excited for our community. Offseason, everybody wanted to know why we even agreed to play this game. We play for this kind of situation. Now we are battle tested. We may have another game like this down the road, and we've been in this situation.”

Kearney’s offense adapted to whatever the Rockhurst defense gave them, running the ball 41 times for 191 yards averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Carter Temple was 5 of 9 for 103 yards passing and led the Bulldogs in rushing with 111 yards on 18 carries.

“I think that's why we win big games, because we can do both (run and pass) even better this year. Everybody is doing really well. It's super exciting,” Temple said.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.