Kearney Bulldogs wrap up perfect season with football program’s 6th state title
.jpg "Dryden Hendrix celebrates after scoring the game-winning touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 21-14 victory over Hannibal in the Missouri Class 4 state championship high school football game on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025 in St. Joseph, Mo.")
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- Kearney finished 2025 undefeated at 14-0 and captured the Class 4 state title.
- Coach Logan Minnick led his first full class to a 49-4 record and two titles.
- Bulldogs relied on defense and key drives, holding Hannibal to 117 total yards.
The Kearney High School football team finished 2025 just way head coach Logan Minnick envisioned four years ago: with another state championship capping an unbeaten season.
Or something along those lines.
This much is absolutely true: The Bulldogs beat Hannibal 21-14 in the Show-Me Bowl Missouri Class 4 title game on Saturday at Spratt Memorial Stadium on the campus of Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
Minnick, who took the Kearney head-coaching job ahead of the 2022 season, saw his first full class finish its senior year with a career 49-4 mark, two state titles (they won it all in 2023, too) and another semifinal appearance.
That led to a light-hearted yet emotional moment in his post-game interview.
“It’s an unbelievable career (for the class of 2026), but I told Kearney when I got the job we were going to do this — 49-4 and two state championships … No, that wasn’t the case at all,” Minnick said with a chuckle. “I’m so proud of these kids and the effort they bring every day.”
Kearney (14-0) raced to a 14-0 lead Saturday. A 57-yard touchdown run by quarterback Carter Temple, who’d finish the afternoon with a game-high 116 rushing yards — plus 62 passing — opened the scoring.
Then the Bulldogs mounted a 14-play, 66-yard drive that concluded with Matthew Lindsey’s 17-yard touchdown run. Lindsey finished with 50 yards on seven carries.
Hannibal returned the ensuing kickoff for a TD and it was 14-7 Bulldogs at halftime. Then the Pirates pulled even by opening the third quarter with a 13-play, 59-yard march, culminating with a game-tying 1-yard TD run by Tre Hoskins.
Kearney countered by going on what would stand as the game-winning drive, a 13-play, 65-yard trek that consumed 5:31 and finished with Dryden Hendrix’s 3-yard run to the end zone with 6:24 to play.
Kearney’s 2025 state championship, the sixth in program history, was underpinned with stout defense: The Bulldogs held Hannibal to just 117 total yards Saturday.