Bulldogs Undefeated with 24-20 Win over NKC

For two straight weeks, the Kearney Bulldogs have faced top-ranked, class-6 football teams on the road and stopped them cold. The most recent being a 24-20 win over the deeply talented North Kansas City Hornets.

“I saw single high safety right in front of me, so I stopped him outside made my move inside and I knew as soon as I made my break, Carter just connected.” - Kale Tucking. Photo by Eric Stevens.

Kearney has matched up at the highest levels of individual competition coming from the likes of Zach Thomas and Dante Dixon at Park Hill, and Power 5 phenom, Kobe Rhymes at North Kansas City. These are the best players in the state at minimum – players that head coaches build their programs around.

First on the scoreboard, Kearney tight end and place kicker, Drew Nelson drove a 40-yard field goal through the uprights. Those first three points would become increasingly more valuable later in the game.

Northtown quarterback Mehki Fields zipped a 17-yard pass to Kobe Rhymes at 9:03 in the first quarter, and a healthy Bulldog defense with Mason Beaver and Clayton Cowan back in the lineup didn’t allow the Hornets to score again until late in the fourth quarter.

“We were so excited to have everybody back,” said defensive lineman Clayton Cowan. “We've been waiting for this for – what is it week five now – and it was exciting to go out there and perform with everyone back,” Cowan added. “I think we’re ready for the rest of the year.”

With 4:53 to go in the half, Kearney quarterback Carter Temple delivered a perfect 24-yard pass into the outstretched hands of a full-stride, Kale Tucking in the endzone, giving Kearney a 10-7 lead going into the half.

“You know they say as a number three receiver you want to run a seam right up the middle,” said Tucking. “I saw single high safety right in front of me, so I stopped him outside made my move inside and I knew as soon as I made my break, Carter just connected.”

In his customary style, Carter Temple led the Bulldog rushing attack with 125 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. He was 9 of 17 for 77 yards passing with a touchdown.

Kearney Running back Dryden Hendrix scored early in the second half on a 4-yard carry. Hendrix had 64 total yards on 15 carries as the Bulldogs deployed their rushing attack for 163 total yards.

The Bulldogs scored again on a Carter Temple 32-yard sideline sprint to the endzone, giving Kearney what appeared to be a comfortable 24-7 lead with 8:15 remaining the game.

Dudes with the speed and stature of Kobe Rhymes are the powder keg in explosive offenses. With no timeouts remaining and 4:42 to play, Rhymes caught a pass in heavy coverage from Mehki Fields and wriggled his way 45 yards for the touchdown.

24-14 feels like a relatively safe lead in the fourth quarter of most football games. Rhymes and the Hornets rejected that premise. With 48 seconds remaining, Kobe Rhymes blasted over the goal line, on a 1-yard touchdown carry. A missed extra point and an early, Drew Nelson field goal ensured Kearney would finish the game 24-20 in their victory formation.

“Very proud of our kids in a huge game and beating back-to-back, ranked class-6 schools on the road,” said head coach Logan Minnick. “At the same time, we talked about it after the game, our overall program, the thing we take so much pride in is finish. We did not finish the game the way we wanted to tonight.”

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard than that,” Minnick added. “But at the same time, you’ve got to give North Kansas City credit. Still proud of our kids as ever and glad this was a week-5 game because there were so many coachable moments and there's so many things we can take from this to get better.”

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Shut Down Park Hill Air Attack

During the previous two weeks, Park Hill scored 74 points on the prolific arm of quarterback Zane Thomas and his favorite target, Dante Dixon. The Kearney Bulldogs allowed only one touchdown as homecoming spoilers in a 14-7 win over the Trojans.

Coach Minnick and the Bulldogs put on a clock-management clinic as they ran time off the board and finished in the victory formation for a 14-7 win. Photo by Eric Stevens.

Thomas opened the Park Hill scoring early with a 45-yard strike to Dante Dixon. On Kearney’s follow-up drive, Bulldog quarterback Carter Temple powered his way behind the offensive line for two yards into the endzone. Drew Nelson tied the score at 7-7 with the PAT.

With 5:39 to go before the half, on 4th-down and eight, Kearney’s defense pressured Zane Thomas into an overthrown endzone pass intended for Dante Dixon. The Bulldogs took over on downs, eventually going to halftime with a 7-7 tie.

Park Hill couldn’t score on their first possession of the second half. The Bulldog defense held them to a missed field goal attempt, giving the Kearney Bulldogs the opportunity to capitalize on their ball-control, running offense.

Kearney’s offensive line became their best defense by keeping the explosive Park Hill offense on the sideline. Carter Temple and company drained the game clock by running over the left side of the offensive line for almost nine minutes in the third quarter and into the fourth when Temple broke free to the endzone for his second score of the evening.

With Kearney leading 14-7, Park Hill had a chance to score in the fourth quarter with a first-and-goal at the Kearney 8-yard line. Dante Dixon caught a Zane Thomas pass at the 3-yard line. On fourth down, Kearney cornerback Conner Reid batted down the scrambling Zane Thomas pass attempt and the Bulldogs took over on downs.

“I want to give a huge shout out to the offense on that touchdown drive there in the third quarter, when we took almost nine minutes off the clock,” said head coach Logan Minnick.

“We're always going to play really good defense. They're gonna keep us in every game we play. They gave up one touchdown early and then locked in when we made a couple little adjustments. Then it just comes down to physicality,” Minnick added. 

Coach Minnick and the Bulldogs put on a clock-management clinic as they ran time off the board and finished in the victory formation for a 14-7 win.

The Bulldogs are 4-0 for the season. They’ll face another Class-6 opponent next week at North Kansas City.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Overwhelm Class-6 Park Hill 38-17

Kearney scored first with a 1-yard, Grant Nolan touchdown run in the second quarter and never looked back. A mauling Bulldog defensive front and adept coverage from the secondary frustrated Park Hill’s high-power offense from start to finish.

 “The biggest thing I keep thinking about this game is how much pride we take in that weight room. I think it showed if we're class 4 or class 6, it doesn't matter, the way our kids get after it in that weight room,” said Kearney Head Coach Logan Minnick. “They had some athletes over there. We won this game on the line of scrimmage, and we were pretty dominant.”

The Class-4 Bulldogs Dominated over Class-6 Park Hill - Photo by Kelly Gentry.

Park Hill got on the board with an Anna Anderson field goal at 4:49 in the second quarter. Kearney’s Jacob Dillon returned the favor with a 39-yard kick through the uprights with 1:21 to go in the half.

With less than ten seconds to go, it seemed Kearney would head to the halftime locker room with a 10-3 advantage until Bulldog quarterback Carter Temple threw a perfect 35-yard strike to the back of the end zone and into the outstretched hands of Grant Nolan.

Jacob Dillon’s point after kick gave the Bulldogs a 17-3 lead and they had the first possession of the second half. By 8:21 in the third quarter, Kearney was on the board again on a Corbin Emmons 45-yard dash to the end zone. Dillon followed up with the PAT as the Bulldogs took over the game at 24-3.

Kearney took advantage of the lead with a heavy running attack through the second half. The Bulldogs amassed 452 offensive yards: 114 passing and a devastating 338 on the ground. Junior Corbin Emmons (168 yards), and Senior Tristan Williams (106 yards) carried the rushing load.

“We were getting five or six yards before we would even get touched, both me and Corbin, so, (our O-line) was pretty good,” said senior running back Tristan Williams.

“We trust those guys back there with the rock,” said senior left tackle, Joe Schranz. “They run hard. I love to see it every single time.”

Park Hill quarterback Zane Thomas connected twice with wide receiver, Dante Dixon for two touchdown scores in the fourth quarter. The first for 30 yards and the second for 80 yards when Dixon broke free over the Bulldog secondary.

Bulldog quarterback Carter Temple ran 18 yards for a touchdown on a designed keeper play in the fourth quarter. Kearney led 31-17 with 4:38 remaining in the game when Temple handed the ball to Tristan Williams for a 1-yard touchdown and the 38-17 win over Park Hill.

“I’m just so proud of the way our kids came out,” said Minnick. “We said all week, to match them or to win this game, we're going to have to be the most physical team and I thought that showed up time and time again.”  

The 4-0 Kearney Bulldogs host Class 6, North Kansas City on Friday, September 27. KPGZ 102.7FM will broadcast the game. The pregame show begins at 6:40 PM. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM.

Mike Davis contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Roll Grandview 45-8

Kearney Bulldog senior running back Tristan Williams ran for 88 yards and 4 touchdowns as the defense held Grandview scoreless 45-0 by halftime. In stark contrast to last week’s defensive battle with Ft. Osage, the outcome of this game was never in doubt.

“I thought our kids did a great job of leveraging Grandview’s speed and kept it contained,” said Head Coach Logan Minnick. “They executed the game plan almost to perfection. We got some turnovers, special teams played well, and the offense was clicking.”

After the successful hook and ladder from Doll to Dostal to Williams! Tristan scores the rushing TD behind tremendous blocking by the O-Line. Photo by Kelly Gentry.

Junior Quarterback Brad Doll connected with Corbin Emmons on a 50-yard touchdown pass early in the first quarter. Williams quickly added two rushing scores, and it was 22-0 before the start of the second quarter. Kicker Jacob Dillon added his dependable point after kicks on the first and third touchdowns, and a Brad Doll to Theo Grace pass completed the 2-point conversion on the second score.

Early in the second quarter, Doll ran 20 yards on a quarterback keeper for a touchdown. Jacob Dillon’s point after kick gave Kearney a 29-0 lead.

Grandview – pinned deep against their own goal line – gave up a safety under heavy pressure from the Kearney defense adding another two points.

Before halftime, Tristan Williams would score on two 4-yard touchdowns followed by Jacob Dillon’s point after kicks. With a 45-0 lead, Kearney’s first-team offense and defense were finished for the night.

“I think that Grandview team is a little better than what the score indicated,” said Minnick. “You know when games get to that kind of situation, I thought our kids handled it really well. Get in, get that running clock going, get the young kids in and get ready for week three.”

Kearney’s second unit offense took over at the start of the third quarter. The second- and third-unit defense would give up the only Grandview score on a fourth quarter touchdown pass from Grandview quarterback Mehkl Fields to wide receiver Mikelis Johnson followed by a two-point conversion.

“You know when we talked during the off-season, I told you, we would build this team around our defense,” Minnick added. “We take so much pride in the weight room and the things we do here we think we can always play well (on defense) regardless of what the offense is doing. It was just a good overall team win, the kind of win we needed to have today.”

The Bulldogs play on the road against conference rival Smithville Friday, September 13. KPGZ 102.7 will broadcast the game beginning with the pregame show at 6:40. Kickoff is at 7:00.

Mike Davis contributed to this story.