KEARNEY – The Bellevue West Thunderbirds came to Ron and Carol Cope Stadium on a mission to earn revenge from their last loss to the Bearcats, avenging their 2020 postseason loss with a 49-13 win over Kearney. Click here to listen to the broadcast.
Bellevue West entered the contest at 3-1 on the season having fell to Millard South the Thursday prior. Kearney was 2-2 and looking to make a statement win for their season at home against the team the Bearcats downed 41-40 in overtime in the 2020 playoffs for one of the biggest upsets in Nebraska State Playoff history.
The game lived up to the hype in the first half, as Bellevue West won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff to start with their high-powered offense. Led by quarterback Luke Johanssen and plenty of weapons – including Division 1 talent Micah Riley, LJ Richardson, Kaden Helms, and Dae’Vonn Hall – the Thunderbirds marched down the field in 11 plays inside of Kearney territory. The Bearcat defense held tough, however, stopping the offensive drive with a turnover on downs.
Kearney proceeded to march down the field on their own offensive rhythm, led by a big pass play from Riley to Kaden Miller. After a neutral gain and back-to-back incompletions, James Dakan hit a 44 yard field goal to give Kearney a 3-0 lead.
Bellevue West was then forced to punt on their proceeding drive, followed by a three-and-out by Kearney.
Bellevue West found success on a 84 yard, 6 play scoring drive capped off by a touchdown run by senior back LJ Richardson. The drive extended into the second quarter, as the Thunderbirds led 7-3 with 11:07 to play in the half.
Another punt after some successful passes from Riley Miller found Kearney punting once again. However, a fumble on the punt return by Kyrell Jordan of Bellevue West was recovered by the Bearcats to give the ball back to Kearney at the Bellevue West 27 yard line.
Kearney could not find their offensive rhythm after the turnover, but did knock down a 24 yard field goal from Dakan bringing the score to 7-6 in favor of the T-Birds.
The next offensive snap from Bellevue West was a back-breaker, as LJ Richardson carried the offense 80 yards in one play to score his second of the night and converted a 2 point conversion from the Wildcat formation to give the Thunderbirds a 15-6 lead with 6:30 to play in the second quarter.
A fumble on the proceeding drive by Kearney was matched by a fumble from Bellevue West on their second offensive snap of the possession, following by an interception after back-to-back incomplete passes for the Bearcats.
Following the interception, Bellevue West methodically trotted down the field with a 9 play, 55 yard scoring drive capped off by a touchdown toss from Johanssen to extend the lead 22-6. Bellevue West took their lead into halftime.
Kearney received the second half kickoff, and marched down the field on a 9 play scoring drive, ending with a 19 yard touchdown toss from Riley Miller to Kaden Miller, their eighth scoring connection on the season. Kearney was back in it, down 22-13 with 8:39 to play in the third quarter.
The key moment of the contest came on the following Bellevue West series, as the Thunderbirds were held back with a holding penalty, followed by a strip sack fumble created by D’Andre Ndugwa of the Bearcats. The fumble would be recovered by the T-Birds, and the proceeding play was a completion off of a late scramble from Johanssen finding Riley alone behind the defense. The pass play on third down and long led to a 6 yard touchdown run by Richardson, making the lead 29-13 in the third.
The energy deflated from Kearney’s sideline moving forward, as a three-and-out was followed up with a 12 play 55 yard scoring drive by Bellevue West. T-Birds led 36-13 with 2:39 to play in the third.
A punt return for a touchdown capped the game off for Bellevue West on the next series, as the T-Birds would add another score and win the game 49-13 in Kearney.
Bellevue West improved to 4-1 on the season and will face Omaha Northwest at home next week.
Kearney falls to 2-3 on the year and travels to now 4-1 Columbus in another contest of District-4 play. Catch the game on KGFW with pregame starting at 6:30 p.m. and kickoff from Columbus at 7 p.m. Austin Jacobsen and Ford Clark will be on the call.
