On Saturday, Dec. 6, the Kearney High School varsity Football team traveled to Missouri Western in St. Joseph for the MSHSAA Class 4 state championship game against the Hannibal Pirates, and brought home another state title with a 21-14 victory.

Both fan bases showed up in a big way, but our side of the stadium was rocking. Thank you to everyone who made the trip to St. Joe and backed our Bulldogs from the opening kick to the final whistle.

The game turned into a classic. After the defense forced a punt on Hannibal’s first possession, quarterback Carter Temple sliced through the Pirate defense for a 57-yard touchdown run to put KHS on the board. Later in the first half, the Bulldogs marched 66 yards on a 14-play drive, capped by a Matt Lindsey touchdown on a reverse to extend the lead.

Hannibal answered with a kickoff return for a touchdown and tried to grab momentum before halftime, but Isaac Beaver came up with back-to-back sacks to send the Bulldogs into the locker room in front.

The Pirates tied the game 14-14 in the third quarter after a fourth-down stop and a touchdown drive with a two-point conversion. Hannibal threatened again, driving deep into Bulldog territory, but the KHS defense responded. Luke Tucking ran down the quarterback on third down, and his twin brother Kale Tucking broke up the fourth-down pass to turn the ball over on downs.

The Bulldogs then did what they do best: they went to work on the ground. KHS put together a 13-play, 65-yard drive behind the left side of the line — Drew Nelson, Nyk Belabre and JD Romero — and Dryden Hendrix refused to be stopped, battling through tacklers at the goal line to give Kearney a 21-14 lead with six minutes to play.

Hannibal made one more push, but the Bulldog defense shut the door. Senior captain Bradley Doll came flying in for a huge interception on the sideline, and on the Pirates’ final fourth-down attempt, Corbin Emmons and Kale Tucking combined on a dramatic stop just short of the first-down marker. From there, Kearney High School ran out the clock and secured the Class 4 state championship.

We are incredibly proud of this team. These seniors have gone from 1-5 as eighth graders to 49-4 in high school, with two state championships, a semifinal appearance, three undefeated regular seasons and a lifetime of great memories.

Thank you to our students, families, staff and community members for supporting KHS Football all season long. Now we turn our attention to our winter and spring activities and athletics, and we’ll keep showing up for our Bulldogs, together.