Kearney started Friday’s game against Grandview fast and never looked back as they swiftly defeated Grandview 53-21 to improve to 4-3 with just one week remaining in the regular season.
Kearney, who prides itself in running the football, did just that on its first drive of the game as Ian Acosta capped off the 6-play, 60-yard drive with a 20-yard run to give Kearney a 7-0 lead.
Kearney increased its lead to 14-0 three plays later. Facing a 3rd-and-long deep inside its own territory, Grandview coach Dan Joiner called a draw play to Keenan Jones.
Jones cut to his left and was met by Daryn Langford. Langford put his helmet square on the ball, jarring it loose, Briggs Terwilleger scooped up the ball and walked into the end zone.
“That was a great start,” Kearney coach Josh Gray said of his team jumping out to the early lead. “Then we kind of took a breath for a minute (allowing Grandview to get back into the game). We knew that wasn’t going to be the end of the ballgame by any means.”
Looking for a spark, Grandview turned to Antavion Williams on its ensuing series. Facing a 2nd-and-5 at its own 25-yard line, Willams took the hand off from Chris Connor. Williams took off up the middle before bouncing back to the outside and scampering down the sideline before he was forced out of bounds at Kearney’s 3-yard line.
Jones capped off the drive with a 5-yard run that cut the lead to 14-8 after Williams converted the 2-point conversion.
Kearney pushed its lead 21-8 midway through the first quarter. And, again, it was the running game that led the way, as Ian Acosta scored his second touchdown of the game with a 1-yard run.
Grandview wasted no time responding as it only needed four plays to score. Needing a big to extend the drive, Connor connected with his tight end, Phillip Nelson, for a gain of 45-yards on third down, a play later, Ja’Lyne Armstrong capped off the drive with a 3-yard run.
“They are explosive, they are very well coached and physical (up front),” Gray said. “We had a little adversity there throughout the game, but we overcame that.”
Kearney took a 28-15 lead going into the half as KJ Smith scored his first of two touchdowns of the game with a 10-yard run.
In fact, all of Kearney’s touchdowns came on the ground, and Gray credited the offensive line for providing massive lanes for Smith, Acosta and Zach Grace to run through.
“We try to come out and make sure that we do what we do,” Gray said. “They’ve done a great job. We had some lumps early on (in the season), we grew and got better. … we’ve just continued to get better, and it starts up front.”
