Kearney Shuts Out Raytown South 50-0

The 7-0 Bulldogs racked up 337 yards of offense on 45 plays in a conference game against the Raytown South Cardinals. The Cardinal offense was smothered by a dominant Bulldog defense that pressured Ray South’s senior quarter back, Troy Jefferson all night – totaling 2 sacks and 4 tackles for loss.

Senior all-purpose football player, Grant Noland opened the first-quarter scoring with a 48-yard punt return. Jacob Dillon added the extra point giving Kearney a one touchdown lead. Minutes later junior wide receiver Hudson Best scampered to the endzone on a 22-yard carry followed by a 2-point conversion. The Bulldogs led 15-0.

Tristan Williams added his second touchdown on a 17-yard carry late in the third quarter.

The second quarter began with a Tyrus Smith, 2-yard carry from the heavy formation (also known as the Ham Package), giving the senior all-state center his first score as a ball carrier. “We practiced it yesterday and got it done,” said Smith. “It felt like I was back in the day, playing running back in little league. It felt natural,” Smith said.

“Tyrus looked like Jerome Bettis right there, said head coach Logan Minnick. “We got the big fella in there. I was excited for him, and I know the kids were excited for him too,” Minnick added.

Senior running back Tristan Williams led the Bulldogs with 63 yards on 12 carries, scoring the first of his two touchdowns with 4:27 to go in the second quarter. Dillon’s PAT gave Kearney a 29-0 lead.

With less than a minute on the clock, Bulldog senior wide receiver Trent Dostal caught a 50-yard pass from quarterback Carter Temple to set up a 2-yard follow-up touchdown throw – again to Dostal – on the next play. Kearney went to halftime with a commanding 36-0 lead after the Dillon PAT.

Coach Minnick talked about Trent Dostal’s skill sets: “Yeah, Trent plays both ways and he's really good at both, and on special teams. We’re very fortunate to have him. I’m very excited for him to finally get his time out here under the Friday night lights because he's earned it.”

Tristan Williams added his second touchdown on a 17-yard carry late in the third quarter and Jacob Dillon was accurate on the PAT.

At 43-0, the running clock gave the Bulldogs just enough time for the second unit and JV teams to score as sophomore Kale Tucking dashed 51 yards for the final score of the game and the shutout. Bulldogs 50, Raytown South 0.

“There's a lot of leadership in the locker room,” said Senior Trent Dostal. “I see a lot of the seniors telling the younger kids what they see out there, and that way, the younger kids know what to do. Those younger kids are also paying attention in the film room. They're also there on Sundays, always looking to get better,” said Dostal.

The 7-0 Kearney Bulldogs host Winnetonka on Friday, October 18. 102.7FM will broadcast the game. Pregame begins at 6:40. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM.

Mike Davis contributed to this story.

Bulldog Softball Dominates Over Winnetonka

Jocelyn Lincoln scored and drove in one when she smashed a homerun on Thursday, October 3 against the Winnetonka Griffins.The Bulldogs would go on to win the game in just three innings, 16-1.

Jocelyn Lincoln scored and drove in one when she smashed a homerun on Thursday.

Winnetonka struck first in the top of the first with one run in after a ground out. Kearney came back in the bottom of the first by scoring eight runs on six hits to take the lead, 8-1. Lincoln hit a two-run homerun over the left field fence. Kennedi Casey had a huge at-bat that drove in three runners on a single.

The Bulldogs scored eight runs on eight hits in the bottom of the third inning. Brooke Paalhar singled, scoring one run, Morgan Pennington singled, scoring one run, Kate Stumpenhaus doubled, scoring one run, an error scored one run, Reghan Lueken doubled, scoring two runs, and Caroline Jury singled, scoring one run.

Reghan Lueken pitched all three innings and had 4 strikeouts. She allowed two hits and one run over three innings and walked one.

Other highlights include:

- Macy Morrow went 1-2

- Kate Landewee had 1 RBI

- Caroline Jury went 1-2 with 1 RBI

- Ryleigh Van Emmerik went 3-3

The Bulldogs are now 23-4 and 7-0 in conference play. Senior night will be Tuesday October 8th against Raytown South.

Brian Watts contributed to this story.

Unbeaten Kearney Defeats Grain Valley 29-6

Senior Grant Noland was just getting started with a 65-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Carter Temple on the Bulldogs’ first offensive play. “I didn’t know Coach (Minnick) was going to call that play,” said Noland. “Carter put it on the money again and I just ran it in. It’s always big to score early like that,” added Noland.

“Grant is an unbelievable player, played both ways tonight, made several catches and the big ball right out the gate,” said Kearney head coach Logan Minnick. “I knew when the defense got the 3-and-out, we were going to take a shot. “Carter Temple puts an absolute dime (on the throw), and we go up six points,” said Minnick.

Noland scored again in the third quarter on an 89-yard kickoff return, side-stepping a defender in front of the Kearney bench and sprinting free to the end zone. “I don’t know why teams keep kicking to Grant Noland, but it’s not very smart at times,” said Minnick.

Kearney defense converges on Grain Valley running back Robert Palmer (6).

Kearney’s defense went into the game challenged by Class-5 Grain Valley’s 40-points-per-game scoring average and senior tailback, Robert Palmer, who is ranked second in the metro averaging 192 yards per game.

Senior linebackers Theo Grace and Jacob Dillon along with junior defensive lineman Mason Beaver combined for three sacks and eight tackles for loss and a Jacob Dillon fumble recovery. The Bulldogs held the Grain Valley offense to 5 of 13 on third down efficiency and 1 of 8 on fourth down.

Carter Temple was 4 of 8 for 133 yards and 2 passing touchdowns; the long ball to Grant Noland and a fourth quarter, 24-yard shot to junior tight end Drew Nelson. Temple had 40 rushing yards on 10 carries including a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Jacob Dillon kicked a 24-yard field goal in the first quarter. With no scoring by either team in the second quarter, Kearney took a 16-0 lead to the half.

Carter Temple (15) hands the ball to Tristan Williams (24).

Tristan Williams led the team in rushing with 62 yards, Cameron Emmons, Hudson Best, and Trent Dostal added 25, 17, and 13 yards respectively, giving the Bulldogs a solid 160 yards on the ground.

Grain Valley running back Robert Palmer broke free of the Bulldog defense early in the third quarter on 60-yard touchdown run. With the Eagle’s missed extra point, that touchdown remained Grain Valley’s only score of the night.

Kearney junior tight end Drew Nelson finished out the scoring with a 24-yard reception from Carter Temple, capping off the 29-6 Bulldog victory against one of the most physically demanding teams on Kearney’s schedule.

“This was one of the toughest games I've seen as far as the the physical nature of the game,” said Minnick. “We told our kids all week when a team wants to play a Kearney style of football, we're going to come out on top and I think you saw that tonight. Now, hats off to them. That's a really good football team.”

“For three weeks in a row, we played (two) Class-6 and a big-time Class-5 program, and we found a way to get through it. Unbelievable job for the kids being so physical these last three weeks,” Minnick added.

The 6-0 Kearney Bulldogs are on the road next week. They’ll play at Raytown South on Friday, October 11. Kickoff is at 7:00 PM.

Mike Davis contributed to this story.