Hoping to rebound from two disappointing losses, the 1-2 Kearney Bulldogs returned home Friday night to face the 1-1 Ruskin Eagles.

Kearney wasted no time setting the tone for the game as Luke Noland returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown.

*Kaden Borchardt ended the night with 21 carries for 155 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns*

The Bulldogs faithful did not have long to revel in the explosive start, as Ruskin immediately responded with a 65 yard touchdown run by the Eagles’ William Sanders. Thanks to a failed extra point attempt, the Bulldogs held the lead at 7-6.

On the following possession, Sanders would strike again, but this time on defense, when he intercepted a Dawson Meinert pass and returned it 47 yards for another Eagle touchdown. The Eagles opted for the two point conversion, which was successful, as quarterback George Pledger easily walked into the end zone.

With only three offensive plays from scrimmage and 1:35 minutes of football played, 21 points had been scored and the Eagles led 14-7.

The Bulldog offense did a solid job on the following possession, marching down the field and scoring on an 8 yard run by Ian Acosta. The extra point from Braxton Breedlove was good and the Bulldogs had tied the game 14-14.

After a somewhat slow start, the Bulldog defense appeared to solidify in the second quarter. After a well placed Breedlove punt, which left the Eagles starting at the 1 yard line, the Bulldog defense would not allow the Eagles any movement whatsoever. The Eagles were forced to punt, but the punt was blocked and rolled out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The Bulldogs were on top 16-14.

The next two scores would go to Kearney, as Kaden Borchardt scored on a 13 yard touchdown run, and Meinert found Carson Frakes in the back of the end zone for a 12 yard touchdown pass. The pass from Meinert to Frakes was the Kearney Chamber of Commerce play of the game.

With time winding down in the first half, William Sanders scored the final points of the game for the Eagles when he scored on a 5 yard running play. The extra point attempt was no good and the Bulldogs took a 30-20 lead into the half.

The second half was a strong showing by both the Bulldog offense and defense. The defense did not allow the Eagles to score and the offense racked up 40 points. As the game progressed and entered the 4th quarter, it appeared the Bulldogs could do no wrong and was clicking on all cylinders. Even slightly more impressive was when the second string Bulldogs entered the game and performed with first team style.

In the 4th quarter, the wheels seemed to completely fall off the bus for the Eagles as not only were they unable to score, but poorly executed plays led to fumbles, interceptions, and all around sloppy play.

By the end of the night, the Bulldogs racked up 324 yards of total offense, which included 155 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns by Kaden Borchardt. This made Borchardt the 102.7FM, Stables Player of the Week.

The Kearney defense was able to hold Ruskin to 241 yards of total offense and placed so much pressure on Eagles quarterback George Pledger that he was only able to complete 3 of 15 pass attempts for 29 yards.

Kearney (2-2) will travel to Grain Valley (4-0) next week.

KPGZ Sports – Jim Dickerson contributed to this story