Kearney football gets rolling
KEARNEY, Mo. — You win some, you lose some! The Kearney Bulldogs Football kicked off their season-opening homestand 1-1, with a loss to Platte County and a win over Fort Osage.
Kearney went 10-1 in the 2022-23 season, with their only loss being to Smithville.
“We’ve had a really good off-season and are excited for this season. We have 15 or 16 kids that started last year, and I’m excited about that, but I’m very proud of our whole senior class in general for how they’re handling this season. They’re hungry. We lost the game of the year last year, leaving a bad taste in our mouth,” said Coach Minnick about his excitement for the season. The Bulldogs had 17 players returning to start the season, and the team’s hard work over the offseason was to be put to the test.
On August 25, the Bulldogs faced off against the Platte County Pirates for their season opener. The first half of the game was a battle of team defenses. However, the Bulldogs struck first with a Jacob Dillon field goal to put them up 3-0 before the half ended. Junior Running Back Tristan Willaims scored a touchdown to put Kearney up 10-7 in the 3rd quarter. The opposing team matched the effort because Platte County quarterback Rocko Marriot and the Platte County offense outscored Kearney 14-8 in the fourth quarter. The run propelled Platte County to a 21-18 victory over Kearney. Their effort came with a cost. The Bulldogs lost their 3-year veteran QB Casey Rooney to injury during the game.
Then, on September 1, the Fort Osage Indians came to town. The Bulldog defense had to rise to the challenge of stopping Junior Running Back Ryver Peppers of the Fort Osage Indians. Prior to the Kearney game, he rushed for 159 yards and three scores against Grain Valley. The Bulldog defense came with a vengeance. Kearney outscored Fort Osage 14-0 in the first quarter, and Fort Osage couldn’t recover, falling to Kearney 21-14. Quarterback Grant Noland, Brad Doll, and Running Back Cameron Emmons had to do the heavy lifting on the Bulldog offense.
Grant Noland has stepped up for the Bulldogs in their homestand, doing a lot of QB runs. Cameron Emmons has been running Kearney’s signature “Ham” formation that Coach Minnick installed. Unfortunately, Noland went out of the game early with a major injury.
On September 8, Kearney traveled to Smithville. The Bulldogs fought hard in their road opener against their Highway 92 rival, Smithville High School (the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year), but unfortunately lost 41-21. Cameron Emmons led the way for the Bulldogs with 225 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Despite having five all-conference Bulldogs out due to injury, there were some positives on defense because they got to the Smithville QB and had 5 TFLs in the game.
The Bulldogs traveled to Excelsior Springs on September 15 to bounce back. Kearney crushed Excelsior Springs 47-13. The Excelsior Springs Tigers did not score until the fourth quarter. Starting QB Casey Rooney returned to the field to play for the first time since the first drive of game 1. Manny Linthacum was the night’s big story. He had two receiving touchdowns and a 74-yard kickoff touchdown.
The Bulldogs will return home to face off against Winnetonka High School and Ruskin for the Homecoming game.
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