Bulldogs Among Best at All-State Choir Auditions

Ten Kearney High School Choir members earned All-State honors during auditions on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Kearney sent 16 juniors and seniors to the event, according to Director Dustin McKinney. They earned honors by learning parts to a challenging piece of music and then performing as part of a quartet.

They are scored by three judges, and then that score is stacked with their District Audition which scored a vocal solo and sight-reading in September. Honorable Mentions are top 10 scores, Alternates are top 6 scores, and All-State are top 4.

In addition, Jules Ford was one of three students who earned top sight-reading scores and were invited to the state-level sight-reading competition, which is even harder than the all-state process.

All State

Delayne Boyd

Logan West

Connor Green

Drew Nelson

Alternate

Emi Eberhardt- 1st

Luke Zurliene- 1st

Archer Schmidt- 2nd

Honorable Mention

Klara Wentzel

Jules Ford

Ronin Roddy

Ray Weikal contributed to this story.

Kearney Police Fundraise for Shop With a Cop

The Kearney Police Department is accepting donations to their annual Shop With a Cop program. Officers will be out collecting money to help buy presents for children at several locations this year.

The Police Department loves this program and so far, they have been able to give to over 400 kids through Shop With a Cop.

“The Kearney Police Department has a rich tradition of this yearly fundraising effort that allows us to bring deserving children shopping before Christmas,” reads their post on social media. “It is an effort that the department has been committed to for a number of years and we enjoy every bit of it!” 

Officers will be collecting money at the following locations in November:

November 9, all day at Bulldog Nutrition and Kearney Nutrition

November 12, 5 – 8 pm at La Fuente

November 16, 8 am – noon at Price Chopper

November 27, 8 am – noon at Price Chopper

People can also donate at Venmo@KearneyMO-ShopwithaCop or by dropping off a check at Kearney Trust Bank (main bank or at Price Chopper).  Donors can also stop by the Police Department to make a direct donation to Shop With a Cop.

Kearney Officers will be shopping with close to 50 children from the Kearney School District on Saturday, December 14, at Wal-mart on Church Road in Liberty.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Deputies Rescue Toddlers During Stand-off

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office assisted local police officers in a stand-off with an armed and barricaded domestic violence suspect on Monday, October 28, in Pleasant Valley.

26-year-old Tyson S. Campbell

The incident began when Pleasant Valley Police received a call at 6:18 pm about a domestic disturbance in the 7100 block of Fulton Road. They asked for assistance from Claycomo Police officers.

When police got on scene, they spoke with a woman who said her partner had assaulted her and was inside the home with a gun. She had brought some of her children outside the home with her. She was not seriously injured.

The victim told police officers her partner inside, 26-year-old Tyson S. Campbell, had assaulted her, and that he was still inside and armed. He refused to come out.

When deputies arrived, Campbell still refused to exit, and deputies learned twin 1-year-old toddlers remained inside. He also refused to let the children out.

The Special Tactics and Response (STAR) Team and negotiators evacuated nearby townhomes and began communicating with Campbell to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.

After many hours of negotiations, deputies entered the home shortly after midnight. They encountered Campbell armed with a handgun. They were able to wrestle the gun away from him and take him safely into custody. They brought the toddlers to safety with their mother, the original assault victim. Two deputies suffered minor injuries during their encounter with Campbell.

Tyson Campbell has been charged with felony domestic assault. The investigation is ongoing, and more charges could be possible.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Fall to Belton in Quarterfinals

The Varsity Bulldog Softball team ended their season in a heartbreaking loss to the Belton Pirates in the State Quarterfinal game of Class 4 on Saturday October 26. The final score was 1-0.

The Bulldogs and pirates both played solid defense and allowed no runs until the top of the 7th inning. Belton designated player Corabelle Newman hit a solo homerun from a Kate Landewee fast ball to give the Pirates the only run in the game.

Kate Landewee pitched all 7 innings and recorded 21 outs. She only gave up one run on four hits, struck out 12, and had no walks. Leadoff hitter Macy Morrow led the Kearney Bulldogs with two hits in four at bats.

Kearney had an amazing year, breaking the school record of wins on the season with 30 games won. Alyssa Quick and Jocelyn were tied for the most homeruns this season with 6. Brooke Paalhar had 3, and Morgan Pennington made 2 homeruns. Kate Landewee, Kate Stumpenhaus, Caroline Jury, Ryleigh Van Emmerik and Reghan Lueken each had 1 homerun this season.

The Bulldogs won in District 8 and were Conference champions this year.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Clinch Conference Title

The Kearney Bulldogs crushed Excelsior Springs in a 56-0 shutout, finishing the regular season with a 9-0 record and a Suburban Blue Conference championship.

“Our goal to start the year is always to win the conference championship,” said Head Coach Logan Minnick. “I'm excited for the boys to be able to add that date to the banner in the gym. That’ll be there forever.”

Senior running back Tristan Williams began the Bulldog scoring-fest in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run. Photo by Eric Stevens.

This game was never close. Kearney racked up 456 yards of offense and held Excelsior Springs to 51 total yards on a night in which it appeared the entire team saw some playing time.

Kearney’s second team offensive and defensive players were filtering into the game during the first half of play. “I bet we played 80 kids,” said Minnick. “We told (the second unit) at halftime, ‘the expectation is you put more points on the board, and you hold the shutout,’ they did that, and I’m really excited for our young kids.”

Senior running back Tristan Williams began the Bulldog scoring-fest in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run. First quarter scoring continued with a Carter Temple pass to senior wideout Trent Dostal for a 20-yard touchdown; senior running back Grant Noland scoring on a 2-yard run; and Dostal scoring on a 10-yard pass reception. Jacob Dillon was a perfect 4-of-4 on point-after kicks in the opening quarter.

Kearney’s second quarter started with junior quarterback Brad Doll passing to junior tight end Drew Nelson for a 20-yard touchdown. Senior Corbin Emmons scored on a 3-yard carry and Brad Doll scored on a 3-yard quarterback keeper. Dillon was 2-of-2 on point-after kicks following the Nelson and Emmons scores and Angelo Donze split the uprights following Doll’s touchdown.

With a basketball-like scoring pace, Kearney headed to the halftime locker room with a 7-touchdown, 49-0 advantage.

“We told our kids before the game, this is week nine and we should be playing our best football game of the year tonight,” said Minnick. “We just need to continue to stack our best game after best game on top of each other as we go through this playoff run,” he added.

The Bulldog second unit finished the game’s scoring with a 65-yard push pass from freshman quarterback Cade Holder to junior wide receiver Graham Parker, for the 56-0 victory.

Kearney earned a first-round bye next week as district playoffs begin on November 1. The Bulldogs will host either Excelsior Springs or Van Horn at Bulldog Stadium November 8.

Junior tight end Drew Nelson and his teammates are looking forward to the bye week. “Right now, going into this bye week, we just need to get in the weight room and get locked in for these next few weeks. Whoever (we play) doesn't matter. We're just going to bring it to them.”

Mike Davis contributed to this story.