KEARNEY – The Bearcats were looking for the upset against 7-1 Elkhorn South, but key moments went the way of the Storm as the visiting team downed Kearney on Senior Night at Ron and Carol Cope Stadium. Click here to listen to the broadcast.
Kearney entered the contest at 3-4 on the year and was looking to gain much needed power points to garner better seeding into the postseason. Meanwhile, Elkhorn South was looking to improve their record and continue their march to the postseason. These two teams had met twice last season in 2020, once in the regular season in a thrilling 28-21 overtime final and a 10-3 postseason win for the Storm resulting in Elkhorn South’s championship game appearance.
KGFW Radio
The game kicked off at Foster Field with Elkhorn South receiving the toss and marching down the field to set the tone early on a 9 play scoring drive. Emphasized by four first downs on the ground, the Storm capped off the 74 yard drive with a 19 yard touchdown toss from senior Will Skradis to fellow senior Koy Wilke. Elkhorn South led 7-0.
Kearney then followed with a three-and-out on their first possession on offense. Following a punt, Elkhorn South was forced to punt after garnering 7 plays down the field on a slow moving ground attack.
Kearney held the ball at their own 13 yard line and proceeded to find success moving downfield. With a quick pass on first down, Riley Miller converted an early pass to move the chains. After continuing down the field with big runs mixed in by Parker Wise, Miller, and Rian Green, the first quarter came to a close. Opening the second quarter with another first down run by Green, back-to-back incomplete passes by Miller followed by a short run led to a 35 yard field goal attempt by senior James Dakan. The attempt swung lightly to the left, and Kearney was held without a score still trailing by 7.
KGFW Radio
Elkhorn South was sacked on their first play of the next drive, which created a three-and-out by the Bearcat defense. Kearney made up for their mistakes on their previous drive, ending a 7 play 40 yard scoring drive with a 5 yard touchdown run by Wise. The touchdown tied the game at 7 with 4:30 left in the second quarter.
Elkhorn South slowly moved down the field, chewing clock and moving methodically with a solid run game. After chunk plays moving into Kearney’s red zone, the Bearcats defense stood tall with less than a minute remaining on back-to-back stops on the one yard line. As only a few seconds remained in the half, Cole Ballard found room for a one yard touchdown dive that ended the first half in Elkhorn South’s favor at 14-7.
As the second half started, Kearney took the opening half kickoff and failed to find room for success, punting after 6 plays. Elkhorn South proceeded to score on the following drive, after the punt was downed at the Elkhorn South 6 yard line and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty resulted the start of the Storm drive at their own 3. The Storm took runs of 28, 5, 10, 5, 0, 26, and 7 to move towards the endzone – resulting in Cole Ballard’s second score from four yards out. Elkhorn South led 21-7.
KGFW Radio
Kearney was unable to move the ball further into Storm territory after the score, and Elkhorn South milked the rest of the second half clock as Kearney fell at home 21-7.
Elkhorn South improves to 7-1 on the season and improves their ranking for post-season position. The Storm take on Lincoln Southeast next week.
Kearney falls to 3-5 on the season and awaits their final road test against Omaha Northwest as the Bearcats have yet to win a game away from home this season. A win guarantees the playoffs for Kearney. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. on KGFW.
