“I was so excited for Ace,” said head coach Logan Minnick. “We practiced it during the week and told him he was going to get an opportunity. I’m happy for him to get that score on Senior Night,” Minnick added.
Senior running back Tristan Williams scored just minutes later on a 1-yard carry that would be the first of his 3-touchdown evening. Jacob Dillon was 6 of 6 on point-after kicks, Angelo Donze was 2 for 2.
It was a busy Senior Night as Trent Dostal scored two touchdowns, the first on a 6-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Carter Temple, giving the Bulldogs a comfortable first quarter, 21-0 lead.
Junior running back Corbin Emmons darted through the Griffin defense for a 20-yard touchdown early in the second quarter. Emmons led the Kearney rushing attack with 96 yards on 11 carries and the touchdown.
Tristan Williams scored twice in the second quarter, once on a 5-yard run, and later on an 11-yard pass from Carter Temple, giving the Bulldogs a commanding 42-0 halftime lead.
Winnetonka opened the second half with a 95-yard kickoff return for touchdown by sophomore Derrick Coleman but missed the extra point kick.
With 3:55 to go in the third quarter, senior all-state linebacker Theo Grace intercepted an attempted Winnetonka screen pass and returned it, sprinting 90 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
“I was running like I took some candy,” said Grace. “I saw Grant (Noland) next to me and I knew it was going to be a touchdown.”
Winnetonka junior Dominic Vallenti caught an 8-yard pass in the endzone, against the Bulldog second unit defense early in the fourth quarter. The extra point was blocked by Kearney.
With the score 49-12, and Winnetonka still playing their starters against Kearney’s second team, the momentum began to take a turn.
“I thought the second unit gave a great effort. When you bring them in you want to keep that goose egg on the board and not give up two scores,” said Minnick. “When it gets to the point where they score again and the turbo clock is about to go away, we had to put the ones back in, which you never feel real comfortable doing. But at that point you’ve got to keep the game in hand.”
Trent Dostal finished the scoring, and effectively, the game with a 30-yard jet sweep for the final touchdown. Kearney moves to 8-0 on the season with the 56-12 victory.
The Bulldogs are on the road at Excelsior Springs for the final regular season game, Friday, October 25. KPGZ 102.7FM will broadcast the game beginning with the pregame show at 6:40. Kickoff is at 7 pm.
Mike Davis contributed to this story.
