Bulldogs Rack Up Post-Season Football Honors

/

Even weeks after their final snap of the 2024 season, Kearney High School’s Football players continue to earn accolades.

The Bulldogs have accumulated an impressive array of honors at every level following their phenomenal 12-1 season. Starting with the most prominent, seven KHS Football players were recently selected for the All-State Class 4 First Team by the Missouri Football Coaches Association:

  • OL Tyrus Smith

  • OL Joe Schranz

  • DL Isaac Beaver

  • DL Mason Beaver

  • LB Theo Grace

  • DB Grant Noland

  • K Jacob Dillon

DISTRICT HONORS

First Team All-District:

  • OL Tyrus Smith

  • OL Joe Schranz

  • DL Isaac Beaver

  • DL Mason Beaver

  • LB Theo Grace

  • DB Grant Noland

  • K Jacob Dillon

Second Team All-District:

  • QB Carter Temple

  • RB Corbin Emmons

  • WR Trent Dostal

  • OL Ace Biddix

  • LB Aiden Arellano

CONFERENCE HONORS

Conference Defensive Player of the Year:

  • Theo Grace

Conference Offensive Player of the Year:

  • Grant Noland

First Team All-Conference:

  • QB Carter Temple

  • RB Corbin Emmons

  • OL Joe Schranz

  • OL Tyrus Smith

  • TE Drew Nelson

  • WR Trent Dostal

  • ATH Grant Noland

  • DL Isaac Beaver

  • DL Mason Beaver

  • DL Clayton Cowan

  • LB Theo Grace

  • LB Aiden Arellano

  • DB Grant Noland

  • DB Trent Dostal

  • K Jacob Dillon

Second Team All-Conference:

  • RB Tristan Williams

  • OL Ace Biddix

  • OL Kalan Bomar

Honorable Mention All-Conference:

  • OL Nyk Belabre

  • WR Hudson Best

  • WR Tre Smith

  • LB Jacob Dillon

  • DB Trent Fritz

KPGZ News –Kearney School District Release

Bulldog Boys Crush Smithville on the Court

/

The Kearney Bulldogs boys basketball ball squad took care of business on Friday, Dec. 20, as they dominated over their bitter rivals from eight miles west of Kearney. The Bulldogs started their winter break with a statement win over the Smithville Warriors, 60-35.

The Bulldog defense frustrated Smithville throughout the game starting in the first quarter where they only allowed the Warriors to score 6 points. The Kearney offense was able to rack up 17 points in a great team effort as Aden Sallee, Drew Wilson, Brad Doll, Andrew Way, Brock Scott and Angelo Donze saw bucket after bucket fall in their favor.

“Our goal going into this game too was to win each 8-minute quarter, and that was our goal after each quarter,” Head Coach Dillon Starzl said after the game. “We started as 0-0 every time and the goal was to win every quarter and if you do that, you're gonna win the game.”

Drew Wilson Scored 25 points against Smithville.

The Bulldogs were able to keep the pressure on the Warriors throughout the game and Smithville was unable to come close to catching up with Drew Wilson and the Kearney Bulldogs. Wilson was the leading scorer during the game. He scored 25 points on the night, but that wasn’t a game-high score for him.

“My career high is 27 points; I had 27 against Platte County last year, and I had 27 again against Excelsior,” Wilson said. “I don't care too much about my stats. As long as I leave the game knowing I gave it 100% and I left it all out there I'm happy.”

Other top scorers in the game were Aden Sallee who made 11 points, Brad Doll had 9, and Andrew Way scored 7 points. Other Bulldogs who made it in the scorebook were Tre Smith, Angelo Donze, Brock Scott, and Ty Smith.

You can hear the full game replay, commentary and interviews on demand at 1027kearneymo.com/podcasts.

KPGZ Sports – Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Bulldog Girls Dominate the Court in Home Opener

/

The Kearney Bulldog girls basketball team defeated the Shawnee Mission North Bison by a final score of 54–32 on Monday, Dec. 10. The Bulldogs scored first and never looked back in their home opener.

Brooke Paalhar scored 11 points on the night.

Kearney took a big lead in the first half and doubled the score at the end of the first and second quarters, 18–9 and 30–15, respectively.

The Bison defense didn't bother the Kearney girls. The Bulldogs were able to do a super job of taking care of the ball and executed on offense. Kearney did a great job playing a tough man to man defense throughout the game and handled anything Shawnee Mission threw at them, whether it was picking them up at half court or a full court 2-2-1 press.

Kearney showed a lot of depth during the game. Eight girls were able to play meaningful minutes throughout the night. They stayed with a man to man defense all night, and offensively found several open lanes for productive points.

The Kearney Bulldogs were led by Maggie Lakin with 16 points.

The Kearney Bulldogs were led by Maggie Lakin with 16 points. Brooke Paalhar had 11, Kennedi Casey added 8, Addie Taylor scored 9, Morgan Pennington had 3, Kayla wrestler scored 3, and Ryleigh Van Emmerik and Mallyrie Schwab-Wetzel both added 2 points.

Coach Resler was pleased with the team’s performance:

“They had no answer for Maggie early on so we just kept feeding her and if somebody else would have got hot we would do the same thing with them. Brooke hit a three…and then we ran that zone play when they switched to zone, [that got] her a wide open look, and unfortunately she missed it but she looked over and just kind of grinned because it was the most open look she had. So that's kind of what we do is try to feed the hand that's hot.”

The Bulldog girls are back in action at home on Tuesday, Dec. 17, as they play a double-header with the Bulldog boys against Grain Valley. KPGZ radio will carry the broadcast starting at 5 pm on 102.7FM and KearneyCountry.com.

KPGZ Sports – Brian Watts contributed to this story.