Kearney Bulldogs beat Hillsboro Hawks for 5th Missouri football title in school history

The Kearney Bulldogs’ formula for winning their fifth state championship in high school football seemed simple enough: score a touchdown on every possession and bring home another Missouri Class 4 trophy.

The Bulldogs followed that can’t-lose script pretty closely, too, beating Hillsboro 68-28 in Saturday’s Show-Me Bowl state championship game at Faurot Field in Columbia.

Kearney’s state title is the program’s first since 2015. The Bulldogs’ lofty points total was just one off the Show-Me Bowl record set in 2012 by Lamar, which beat Blair Oaks 69-41 that year.

Kearney (13-2) and Hillsboro (12-2) piled up a combined 996 yards of offense Saturday — second-most in Show-Me Bowl history (in Friday’s Class 3 finale, Central and Seneca combined for 1,070).

The Bulldogs prevailed Saturday afternoon by finding the end zone on every drive save one. That outlier occurred late in the first half, when they elected to run out the clock and take a 34-14 halftime lead into the Memorial Stadium locker rooms.

KHS senior running back Cameron Emmons rushed for four touchdowns and quarterback Casey Rooney threw for four. Rooney passed for 229 yards and ran for 91.

While the Bulldogs’ big plays lit up the scoreboard, the Kearney defense also came up huge. KHS turned in two goal-line stands in the first half.

The first came right after kickoff: Hillsboro quarterback Preston Brown connected with brother Payton Brown out of the backfield for a 79-yard pass. But Brown was felled at the 1-yard line, and a penalty — plus four stout plays by the KHS defense — denied the Hawks the end zone.

The Bulldogs then proceeded to march 98 yards in 13 plays. Their six-minute opening drive was capped by a 1-yard TD plunge from Emmons, who finished with a game-high 93 rushing yards. Brother Corbin Emmons added 56, and by day’s end, Kearney had run for 279 as a team.

Rooney fired a 34-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Manny Linthacum a short time later to make it a two-score lead. Linthacum would haul in a total of five passes Saturday for 96 yards and two TDs.

Hillsboro countered with a big play of its own, as Payton Brown ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run to pull the Hawks within six, at 13-7. But Rooney’s 34-yard scoring pass to Bryce Page made it 20-7, and the Hawks would get no closer.

Rooney hit Linthacum again to make it 27-7, and then Emmons scored again, too. That made it 34-14 at the break.

The Bulldogs stayed hot to open the second half, starting at their own 48 and scoring five plays later with Emmons in the wildcat formation. Emmons’ fourth TD capped a nine-play, 79-yard drive with four minutes remaining in the third period.

Rooney’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Cohen Jacobs made it 54-28, and Linthacum’s third touchdown — on an end-around midway through the final quarter — made it 61-28. Kearney forced a Hillsboro fumble on the ensuing play, and Jacobs’ 11-yard run accounted for the victors’ final touchdown.

This is the first state championship for Bulldogs head coach Logan Minnick. Saturday’s game marked the sixth appearance in the state finale for KHS; Hillsboro 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 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.

Later Saturday in the Class 6 Show-Me Bowl game, Liberty North beat Christian Brothers College 38-7. In the Class 2 finale, Lamar beat Valle Catholic 35-28.

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 38, CBC 7

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

Kearney 42, Jefferson City 7

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

Seneca 41, St. Pius X 17

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 35, Valle Catholic 28

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

North Platte 54, Milan 34

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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