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.
