Corbey Dorsey, Central Nebraska Today
NORTH PLATTE — Kearney used a dominant defensive performance to pave the way to a 38-0 season-opening road victory over North Platte Friday night.
The Bearcats (1-0) limited the Bulldogs (0-1) to 62 yards of total offense with 54 yards coming on the ground. North Platte managed just six first downs and had the ball for just one four-play possession in Kearney territory after recovering a fumble at the KHS 28-yard line in the first quarter.
“Both these teams had inexperienced groups here tonight, so for us to play defense like we did tonight was pretty impressive,” Kearney coach Brandon Cool said. “North Platte’s offense is very difficult to prepare for, so I take my hat off to our defensive staff for putting guys in the right spots and to the kids for making a lot of plays.”
The Bearcats finished with 301 total yards, including 235 yards rushing on 35 attempts.
“We did a good job of really winning the field-position battle for most of the first half and then we were able to establish the run game a little bit and run between the tackles, which is what you want to do in the first game of the year,” Cool said. “Overall, I was pleased with our effort. This group is only going to get better as the year goes on.”
Quarterback Zach Atchison completed 7 of 10 pass attempts for 66 yards and also rushed eight times for 68 yards. The senior opened Kearney’s scoring with a 51-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and also broke into the end zone from 7 yards out in the second quarter.
Levi Profahl led the Bearcats’ ground game, rushing 12 times for 126 yards. The senior’s 23-yard scoring run helped Kearney build a 21-0 halftime lead.
“Levi has a lot of game experience from a year ago, so it was big for us to see him run the ball like he did today,” Cool said. “He had one little oops with the fumble early in the game, but he corrected that and at the end of the day, he did a pretty good job.
“It all begins up front and our guys did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and Levi did a good job of running downhill.”
Dylan Dinslage had a 1-yard TD run and Carter Symington converted a 35-yard field goal, putting Kearney ahead 31-0 with 8:59 to play. At that point, the game was delayed for nearly two hours by weather.
Brayden Peisiger had an interception for Kearney after play resumed. An errant snap on a North Platte punt led to a 1-yard scoring plunge for Bearcat Skyler Day with 5:52 remaining to cap the scoring.
“It’s the first game of the year and you’re going to have some mistakes — you’ve got to have a short memory and get back on the horse,” Cool said. “For us to travel out here and have Mother Nature the way she was, that was a good victory for our team.”
Kearney 38, North Platte 0
Kearney (1-0)…………………………7 14 7 10—38
North Platte (0-1)……………………0 0 0 0— 0
First Quarter
K—Zach Atchison 51 run (Carter Symington kick), 3:04.
Second Quarter
K—Atchison 7 run (Symington kick), 9:35.
K—Levi Pofahl 23 run (Symington kick), 3:10.
Third Quarter
K—Dylan Dinslage 1 run (Symington kick), 7:38.
Fourth Quarter
K—Symington 35 field goal, 8:59.
K—Skyler Day 1 run (Brayden Peisiger kick), 5:52.
K
NP
First downs
14
6
Rushes-Yards
35-235
37-54
Passing Yards
66
8
Att-Comp-Int
7-10-0
1-5-1
Total Offense
45-301
42-62
Return Yards
21
0
Kickoff Returns
1-15
4-44
Fumbles-Lost
2-1
1-0
Punts-Avg.
2-35.0
6-31.7
Penalties-Yards
3-20
1-2
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing—Kearney, Atchison 8-68, Pofahl 12-126, Dinslage 6-17, Miller 4-10, Hanson 1-3, Day 4-11. North Platte, Korkow 7-23, Clouse 1-4, Weaver 1-4, Jackson 1-0, Burke 1-2, Stiffler 2-0, Neidhardt 3-13, Shea 8-22, Whitney 1-5, Still 7-8, Vyhnalek 1-minus 4, Jorgensen 2-0, Plunk 2-2, Team 1-minus 25.
Passing—Kearney, Atchison 7-10-0 66. North Platte, Still 0-3-0 0, Patterson 1-2-1 8.
Receiving—Kearney, Cope 2-27, Larsen 2-16, Paider 1-11, Day 1-10, Knoell 1-2. North Platte, Hunter 1-8.