It’s Kearney vs. Hannibal for State Title

Years from now, Bulldog fans will tell the story of a blustery-cold, 5-hour journey across the entire state. Destination – Festus, Missouri, to sit on icy-wet bleachers in a freezing, wintery mix of rain and snow to watch their Kearney Bulldogs beat the daylights out of the Festus Tigers 52-24 in the state semifinal game.

Junior quarterback and team captain, Carter Temple led the charge with 314 combined offensive yards – 16 carries for 237 rushing yards (14.8 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns, and 8 of 10 completions for 77 passing yards.

Corbin Emmons ran for 147 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Photo by Eric Stevens.

“Carter Temple is one of the best football players in the entire state of Missouri regardless of what position he plays,” said head coach Logan Minnick. “It doesn't matter. That kid is a winner, he's a gamer, he's super competitive. An absolute leader of our team, there's a reason as a junior he got more votes than anybody for captain.”

Temple’s 14.8 yards per rushing attempt against Festus earned him a place in the Kearney High School record books, breaking the Cameron Emmons record set in 2023.  

“Last year we lost in the semis, and I think about it absolutely every single day,” said Temple. “I think the entire team did. We wanted to win this one.”

The sting of last year’s semifinal loss lingered with the 13-0 Bulldogs throughout their state championship playoff run, and a reckoning was about to be hammered out on the Festus Tigers. Senior running back, Corbin Emmons ran for 147 yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns. Dryden Hendrix had 70 yards on 8 carries with two touchdowns, while Matthew Lindsey added to the carnage with five carries for 30 yards.

The Tigers struck early as junior quarterback Parker Perry hit a wide-open Jackson Frank for a 79-yard touchdown blast in the first quarter. Luke Wacker was accurate on the point after, giving Festus an early 7-0 lead.

Bulldog junior running back Dryden Hendrix and the offensive line in front of him wasted little time responding with a 5-yard touchdown run. Kearney senior Brad Doll skipped his placeholder duties by running the ball across the goal line for the 2-point conversion giving Kearney an 8-7 lead.

Kearney Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator Steve Backes said, “The Bulldog offense refused to let the Tigers pull away and answered with touchdowns of their own after every score.”

The Bulldogs’ ground effort rolled over Festus, eclipsing a 25-year, single-game rushing record with 472 total yards. “Such domination does not happen without a great team effort, starting up front with the offensive line of Nyk Belabre, JD Romero, Travis Jarrett, Cohen Dray and Kalan Bomar,” said Backes.

Festus scored again on a 60-yard Perry to Braydon Wilkes pass and a Luke Wacker PAT giving the Tigers a 14-8 lead at 3:38 in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs took a 15-14 lead following a Carter Temple 22-yard score and Drew Nelson PAT, with two minutes to go in the first quarter.

Luke Wacker was accurate on a 22-yard Tiger field goal giving Festus a 17-15 advantage over the Bulldogs midway through the second quarter.

Kearney answered with a Dryden Hendrix 6-yard touchdown run and Temple threw a perfect 3-yard pass to Matthew Lindsey in the endzone for the 2-point conversion, giving the Bulldogs a 23-17 halftime lead.

The second half was all Kearney. “We ran our bread and butter play and they really couldn't stop it in the first half,” said Temple. “We kept on running until they stopped it and they couldn't stop it.”

At 8:46 in the third quarter, Temple spun and twisted 25 yards through Festus defenders for the touchdown and the Bulldog special teams added another 2-point conversion on a Matthew Lindsey carry, pushing the Kearney lead to 31-17.

Two minutes later, Temple ran for a 23-yard score. Corbin Emmons scored from 10 yards out near the end of the third quarter and would score again in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard dash to the end zone.

The Bulldog defense adjusted and locked down the explosive Festus offense for the entire second half. The Tigers scored late in the game on a Kamden Yates 1-yard run which was their only score since midway through the second quarter. Final score: Bulldogs 52, Tigers 24.

“Hats off to Coach Brinkley and the defensive staff of getting those couple of little things corrected and then going to work,” said Coach Minnick.

“You know, offensively I don't think we punted all night, we wanted to be super physical,” said Minnick. “I think we established the line of scrimmage, we had a few new wrinkles in there that were big for us tonight so, hats off to Coach Backes and our coaching staff of putting that plan together.

The Kearney Bulldogs play for the Missouri class-4 state championship this Saturday, December 6th at Spratt Stadium on the campus of Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph to face the Hannibal Pirates. Kickoff at 11:00 a.m. CDT.

KPGZ News – Mike Davis contributed to this story.