Eagles can’t overcome early spurt from Bulldogs in 29-6 loss

by Michael Smith


Kearney connected with a couple of haymakers early, but Grain Valley wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

The defending Class 4 state champions scored two touchdowns less than 3 minutes into Friday’s game at Moody Murray Memorial Field.

The Eagles fought back and kept the game within two scores until early in the third as Kearney pulled away in the second half to top the Eagles 29-6.

On the first play of the game, Kearney quarterback Carter Temple connected on a deep ball to senior Grant Noland for a 66-yard touchdown to make it 6-0 after Grain Valley blocked the extra-point attempt 15 seconds into the game.

On Grain Valley’s first drive, quarterback Chase Neer fumbled and the ball was recovered by Kearney senior defensive back Trent Fritz at the Eagles 26. Temple later hit pay dirt on a 3-yard run on an option play to put his team up 13-0 at the 9:45 mark in the first period. Senior kicker Jacob Dillon later tacked on a made 24-yard field goal with 21 seconds left in the first to extend the lead to 16-0.

The Eagles (4-2), however, did not go away. Grain Valley marched into Kearney’s red zone and senior running back Robert Palmer made it into the end zone on a 3-yard run in the second quarter. But the touchdown was negotiated by an illegal formation penalty.

Grain Valley had another chance to score on the same drive as it had the ball on the Bulldog 3 once more on fourth down. Eagles head coach David Allie called a jet sweep for speedy freshman wide receiver Dawson Head, but he was stopped about a half yard short from the goal line by Noland, forcing a turnover on downs.

“We had some opportunities,” Allie said. “We had an opportunity to show what we are by playing a great opponent. The wheels could have fallen off early. They had two quick scores, so we had to settle down and take a deep breath.

“We could have hung it up. We didn’t give up. We sustained some drives; we just couldn’t get in the dang end zone. We converted on third down a couple of times. We didn’t get the job done and we have to find a way to do that.”

The 16-0 score held until halftime before the Eagles scored on their first drive of the game early in the third period. Senior running back Robert Palmer found some running room behind his left guard and tackle as he broke away for a 57-yard TD run to cut Kearney’s lead to 16-6 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.

Palmer finished with 150 yards on 22 carries.

“Other than the big run, we were pleased with how we defended him,” Kearney head coach Logan Minnick said of his defense trying slow down Palmer, who now has more than 1,000 yards rushing this season. “He’s one of those players you don’t ever stop him, you just hope to contain him a little bit. He’s going to make plays. There were a couple of times we had his runs defended perfectly and he breaks three, four, five tackles. He’s a heck of a ball player for those guys. I am glad we don’t have to play him again.”
 
However, Kearney immediately delt a backbreaker to Grain Valley when Noland returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for another score to make it 22-6 after another point after try was blocked.

Grain Valley appeared to have scored early in the fourth when senior linebacker Aiden Woodrome blocked a field goal attempt from Dillon and senior defensive back Jordan Fuller scooped up the ball and ran it all the way to the other end. But the officials ruled the play dead and did not award the Eagles with a touchdown after an inadvertent whistle was blown.

Kearney later put it away with 1:24 left in the game as Temple hit a wide-open tight end Drew Nelson for a 14-yard passing score.

The Eagles tried to surprise the Bulldogs with more passing plays and found some success. Neer had a solid game passing the ball as he completed 9 of his 12 attempts for 91 yards.

​“We tried to break some tendencies,” Allie said. “We threw it a little bit. Kearney did a good job scheming to take some stuff away on our inside runs. We had to start attacking the edges a little more. We tried to not be as predictable.”

The 16-0 score held until halftime before the Eagles scored on their first drive of the game early in the third period. Senior running back Robert Palmer found some running room behind his left guard and tackle as he broke away for a 57-yard TD run to cut Kearney’s lead to 16-6 after a failed two-point conversion attempt. Photo credit: John Overstreet

Sophomore Sjoeren Aumua looking for some running room. Photo credit: John Overstreet