For the third straight week, Kearney notched a win over a fellow Top 25 Northland challenger.

The Bulldogs, ranked No. 6 in the 810 Varsity Top 25 and No. 1 in Missouri Class 4, dealt No. 8, North Kansas City (4-1), its first loss of the season, 24-20, on Friday night in Northtown.

“We’re probably going to run the ice machine out when we get back to Kearney,” Bulldogs head coach Logan Minnick said. “We’ve got to fix a few little things, ice up some bumps and bruises and be ready to go next week.”

Kearney (5-0) led 3-0 after the first quarter, but found themselves trailing after a touchdown pass from quarterback Mehki Fields to Kobe Rhymes, who scored all three Hornets touchdowns on the night. Down 7-3 with less than five minutes left in the first half, Kearney went for it on fourth down and cashed in. Carter Temple found Kale Tucking on a 24-yard scoring strike with 4:53 for an eventual 10-7 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs came out of the break with another scoring drive, as junior Dryden Hendrix punched it in from five yards out for a 17-7 KHS lead with 8:21 left in the third. Hendrix logged 64 rushing yards in the contest.

It looked all but over when Temple rumbled for 32 yards on a keeper to push the lead to 24-7 with 8:15 to play. Temple finished with 125 rushing yards as well as 77 passing for the night.

That’s when North Kansas City, which came in averaging 57.75 ppg made things interesting.

Another Fields to Rhymes touchdown pass, this time from 45 yards out with 4:42 left, was followed by a defensive stop on Kearney’s next drive.

With less than one minute to go, Fields connected on a 41-yard pass to Reggie Smith. Then Rhymes dove in from a yard out, cutting the lead to 24-20 with :48 left.

The rally ended there as Kearney blocked the extra point and recovered the onside kick attempt to seal their fifth win in as many games

The Bulldogs continues a tough stretch of games as they host No. 13 Grain Valley (4-1) next week. North Kansas City (4-1) is back home against Grandview on Oct. 4.