Grand Island and Kearney are an even 5-5 against one another since August of 2015, but not for long. The Grand Island Islanders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Kearney Bearcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.
After dropping their season opener at home, Kearney is headed out to face a Islanders team ready to give their home crowd a win. Grand Island lost to Lincoln Southeast at home by a 35-20 margin on Friday. The Islanders have struggled against the Knights recently, as their game on Friday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Grand Island might have lost, but man, Nelsyn Wheeler was a machine: he rushed for 160 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.9 yards per carry, and also picked up 47 receiving yards. Wheeler was no stranger to the big play, turning on the jets for a run that went for 59 yards. Another player making a difference was Jalen Warren, who picked up 175 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Grand Island's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Roman Devault. He didn't just play on offense: he also made four total tackles and defended a pass in addition to snagging two interceptions.
Meanwhile, Kearney owes their defense a big pat on the back after their performance on Friday. They put the hurt on North Platte with a sharp 20-0 win.
Grand Island was able to grind out a solid victory over Kearney in their previous matchup back in October of 2023, winning 29-19. Will Grand Island repeat their success, or does Kearney have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
