Bulldogs Clinch District Title Over Savannah

For the second straight year, the Kearney Bulldogs are Class 4 District 8 champions. Kearney ran the ball 29 times for 277 yards in a 34-7 district championship win over the Savannah Savages.

Senior Grant Noland scored on a second-quarter 14-yard pass reception from Carter Temple, and a 42-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. He also led the Kearney defense with six solo tackles, four assists, and two tackles for loss.

The Kearney Bulldog defense held Savannah quarterback Aiden Knechtenhofer to only 73 yards passing until a late fourth quarter, 67-yard pass and run to Max Howe for the Savages’ only score. Kearney’s defense slammed the door on any hope of a meaningful Savannah running attack, holding the Savages to only 54 total rushing yards, 41 of which were Knechtenhofer scrambles.

Corbin Emmons dashes in the endzone for a bulldog touchdown. Photo by Eric Stevens.

“Anytime our defense is playing the way they’ve been playing, it doesn't take a ton of points to get to where we need to be,” said Head Coach Logan Minnick.

Bulldog dual-threat quarterback, Carter Temple was 8 of 13 for 85 yards passing and one touchdown. Temple led the Bulldogs in rushing with 95 yards and a touchdown. Senior running back Tristan Williams had 66 yards and a touchdown, Noland had 58 yards on 3 carries and a touchdown, and Corbin Emmons rushed for 49 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown.

“Coming into this game, we knew Savannah was pretty physical,” said Kearney senior lineman, Nyk Belabre. “We had to be just as physical up front. Our running backs ran hard, and Carter had some great plays.”

“The big guys up front have been good all year and had a great night,” said Minnick. “We challenged them all week. That is a very good defense over there.”

Kearney forced two Savannah turnovers in the first half of play: A Trent Dostal pass interception; and a blocked punt by Jacob Dillon recovered by Conner Reid. Kearney’s offense capitalized on both, scoring 14 points in the second quarter.

Kearney punted the ball once. The defense had six tackles for loss and a sack against a prolific offense led by a talented, athletic quarterback in Aiden Knechtenhofer. The Bulldogs would score three final touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the 34-7 win over Savannah, a team that averaged 34.5 points per game this season.

“You know as we talk about our goals for the year and putting banners up in the gym, this is banner number two this year,” said Minnick. “You win the conference, you win the district and now, we're going to try to make a run at this thing.”

Kearney will face the Warrensburg Tigers in Warrensburg for the state quarterfinal game on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 pm. The Bulldog Radio Network will carry the live broadcast. Pregame begins at 6:40.

Mike Davis contributed to this story.

Bulldogs Overpower Van Horn 49-7

Kearney scored three touchdowns in the first half and four touchdowns in the second half in the Missouri Class 4 District 8 semifinal game. For the seventh time this season, the Bulldog defense held their opponent to one score or less.

Despite their 21-0 lead, the first half of play was uninspiring for the 10-0, defending state champion, Kearney Bulldogs.

Uncharacteristic mistakes, penalties and missed opportunities prompted Head Coach Logan Minnick to call an early timeout and refocus his team on the sideline. “At least offensively, it felt like we extended the bye week into the second quarter,” said Minnick.

“I don’t think we were mentally locked in,” said junior quarterback Brad Doll. “I don’t think everyone was taking (Van Horn) seriously and that’s a great football team over there.”

Emmons had 98 yards rushing for 3 touchdowns on Friday against Van Horn. Photo by Eric Stevens.

Within minutes from the start of the contest, Corbin Emmons scored on a 1-yard touchdown carry. Grant Noland darted 28 yards at the 5:07 mark giving the Bulldogs a 14-point lead. Jacob Dillon was 2-for-2 on the point-after kicks.

With less than a minute to go in the second quarter, Brad Doll tossed a 40-yard touchdown pass to Trent Dostal on a third-and-12 play. Jacob Dillon’s PAT gave the Bulldogs a 21-0 halftime advantage.

“We told our kids – loudly – at times, we didn’t feel like we played our best half,” said Minnick. “We (the first team varsity) hadn’t played into a second half in almost a month. We knocked off a little rust there. We have several things we can clean up. There’s plenty to fix. At this point of the season, you can’t have a bad half. But we’ll take all the bad ‘21-to zero’ halves we can get,” Minnick added.

Sophomore cornerback Aiden Arellano intercepted a pass in the end zone, derailing a sustained Van Horn offensive drive in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Bulldogs’ offensive line and running game went into high gear on a 21-yard touchdown run by sophomore Kale Tucking. Three minutes later, Corbin Emmons scored on a 1-yard carry, giving Kearney a 42-0 third quarter lead. Dillon and Angelo Donze were on target with the point-after kicks.

Early in the fourth quarter, Van Horn sophomore running back Edarrius Scruggs sliced through the Kearney second-team defense 60 yards for the Falcons’ only score. Kearney Bulldog senior all-purpose player, Grant Noland topped off the victory with a 48-yard rushing touchdown. Donze’s point after kick was good for the 49-7 win.

“Van Horn has beaten seven other teams. They’ve got some really good players over there; they’re well coached,” said Minnick. “Give them some credit too for their game plan. We made some really good second-half adjustments. We came out and said, ‘we’re going to be the most physical football team out here,’ and I think that showed in the second half.”

The Bulldogs host Savannah for the district title next Friday, November 15. KPGZ 102.7FM will provide the live, play-by-play broadcast. Pregame starts at 6:40.

Mike Davis 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 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 a yet-to-be-determined opponent 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.