Kearney Bulldogs beat Hillsboro Hawks for 5th Missouri football title in school history
Kearney trounced Hillsboro 68-28 for the state championship in Missouri Class 4 high school football in Saturday’s Class 4 Show-Me Bowl at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium in Columbia.
The Bulldogs’ point total was just one off the Show-Me Bowl record set in 2012 by Lamar, which beat Blair Oaks 69-41.
By the time senior running back Cameron Emmons scored his second touchdown of the day on the University of Missouri campus, Kearney (13-2) owned a 34-14 lead that it would take into intermission and protect during the second half.
Kearney was relentless Saturday, scoring on all but one of its first eight drives to lead 47-28 through three quarters.
KHS capitalized on turnovers created by its defense. After an interception by the Bulldogs, Manny Linthacum’s third touchdown of the day made it 61-28 midway through the final period. Kearney forced a Hillsboro fumble and scored again soon after, this time courtesy of an 11-yard run by Cohen Jacobs, and it was 68-28.
Casey Rooney to Bryce Paige 43 yard TD! Kearney up 20-7 with 11:11 left in half pic.twitter.com/mlgula80eT
— WOWKC (@WOWKCfootball) December 2, 2023
This is the fifth state championship for the Kearney football program and first for Bulldogs head coach Logan Minnick. Saturday’s game marked the sixth appearance in the state finale for KHS; Hillsboro (12-2) was making its first state-title game appearance.
Kearney previously captured championships in 2002, 2003, 2009 and 2015. The Bulldogs last played in the state-title game in 2016, losing 21-14 to Harrisonville. Greg Jones, who led KHS to the 2009 and 2015 crowns, is now the defensive coordinator at Central Missouri.
The Bulldogs reached this year’s state championship game by beating Jefferson City 42-7 in last weekend’s semifinals. Emmons scored two first-half touchdowns in that game, too.
Emmons, who scored again in the third quarter Saturday, was a finalist for this year’s Fontana Award, presented by the Thomas A. Simone Foundation to the KC area’s top player in Classes 1-4. The award went to St. Pius X sophomore quarterback Hudson Bailey this past week.
The overall Simone Award winner will be unveiled Wednesday. Finalists are BV Southwest QB Dylan Dunn; Lee’s Summit North QB Elijah Leonard; Liberty North WR/DE Jayshawn Ross; and Grain Valley RB Ty Williams.
The Class 6 Show-Me Bowl, pitting Liberty North against Christian Brothers College, was still to come Saturday. Kickoff was set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium, after the Class 2 finale between Lamar and Valle Catholic at 3 p.m.
Missouri football state championships
CLASS 6
Quarterfinals
Christian Bros. College 35, Jackson 23
Liberty North 38, Oak Park 7
Rockhurst 38, Nixa 14
De Smet Jesuit 23, Columbia Rock Bridge 16
Semifinals
Liberty North 28, Rockhurst 27, OT
CBC 31, De Smet 28
State-title game, Saturday at Faurot Field
Liberty North vs. CBC, 7 p.m.
CLASS 5
Quarterfinals
Webb City 49, Grain Valley 35
Cardinal Ritter 68, Ft. Zumwalt North 14
Central (Cape Girardeau) 32, Eureka 29
Republic 28, Helias Catholic 21
Semifinals
Cardinal Ritter 52, Central 22
Republic 21, Webb City 20
State-title game, Friday at Faurot Field
Cardinal Ritter 38, Republic 25
CLASS 4
Quarterfinals
Hillsboro 48, Pacific 35
Lutheran North 70, Hannibal 61
Kearney 35, Nevada 0
Jefferson City 31, McDonald County 28
Semifinals
Hillsboro 34, Lutheran North 12
State-title game, Saturday at Faurot Field
Kearney 68, Hillsboro 28
CLASS 3
Quarterfinals
Seneca 56, Ava 8
Blair Oaks 47, Westminster Christian Academy 29
St. Pius X 42, Odessa 7
Central (Park Hills) 50, St. Francis Borgia 28
Semifinals
Central (Park Hills) 48, Blair Oaks 43
State-title game, Friday at Faurot Field
Central (Park Hills) 48, Seneca 34
CLASS 2
Quarterfinals
Bowling Green 50, East Buchanan 22
Lamar 41, Lafayette County 7
Valle Catholic 47, Lift for Life Academy Charter 14
Fair Grove 27, Father Tolton Regional Catholic 13
Semifinals
Lamar 47, Bowling Green 16
Valle Catholic 51, Fair Grove 26
State-title game, Saturday at Faurot Field
Lamar vs. Valle Catholic, 3 p.m.
CLASS 1
Quarterfinals
Milan 13, Penney 12
North Platte 42, Windsor 6
St. Vincent 45, Crystal City 14
Marionville 17, Portageville 14
Semifinals
Marionville 38, St. Vincent 7
State-title game, Friday at Faurot Field
Marionville 29, North Platte 0
EIGHT-MAN
Quarterfinals
South Holt 60, Plattsburg 58
Archie 82, Lockwood with Golden City 42
Braymer with Breckenridge 84, St. Paul Lutheran 51
Worth County w/NE Nodaway 70, Schuyler County 16
Semifinals
Worth County w/NE Nodaway 40, South Holt 14
Archie 88, Braymer with Breckenridge 20
State-title game, Thursday at Faurot Field
Archie 40, Worth Co./NE Nodaway 26
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