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 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.

Bulldogs Take Down Grandview 56-13

Kearney held a 50-7 lead at halftime against conference opponent, Grandview Bulldogs. Junior quarterback Carter Temple connected on 17 of 23 passing attempts for 308 yards and five touchdowns. Temple spread the ball to 7 receivers with Dryden Hendrix (65 yards) and Drew Nelson (64 yards) leading the way. Hendrix and Nelson each scored two touchdowns. Matthew Lindsey had 55 receiving yards and one touchdown.

Junior quarterback Carter Temple connected on 17 of 23 passing attempts for 308 yards and five touchdowns.

Grandview running back, Micha Rainey slipped free from the Bulldogs second unit defense with an 86-yard touchdown run at the 4:15 mark in the second quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brad Doll, Kearney senior cornerback, returned the favor, running 75 yards for the touchdown. Carter Temple kept the ball and darted into the endzone for the 2-point conversion with 4:03 remaining in the first half.

Kearney finished out the second half with second-unit players including a number of sophomores. Micha Rainey broke free on a 10-yard touchdown scamper which would be Grandview’s only second half score. Kearney’s Matthew Lindsey finished with the final touchdown of the evening, topping off the Bulldog victory at 56-13.

The defense held Grandview to just 141 yards. Grant Bogert, Kale Tucking, Lane Cook and Isaac Beaver all recorded sacks on the night. The Kearney Bulldog offense finished the evening averaging 11.8 yards per play.

The Bulldogs host rival Smithville this Friday at Bulldog High School Stadium.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.