Kearney High ready for another metro test against Omaha North
KEARNEY — After suffering a 52-3 defeat to No. 1 Millard South, Kearney has a simple message for this week.
Lick your wounds, and get back to work.
Friday, the Bearcats host No. 5 Omaha North, another tough test from the Omaha metro.
"We played a buzzsaw game against Millard South, where you're going to have to play extremely well, and we did not," Kearney head coach Brandon Cool said. "We have to get 11 guys on the same page every single play, and when we don't do that good teams are going to expose you. We're going to readjust our facemasks, lick our wounds and see if we can get 11 guys going the right direction on Friday."
Cool grouped this game and the Millard South game together in preparation, similar to the process used when facing North Platte and Grand Island to open the year.
"It's gonna allow us to figure out where we're at, and what things we need to work on headed into district competition," Cool said.
Both are metro teams with multiple dominant athletes, and both are right before district play, giving Kearney a fantastic shot to see where it is before the critical point of the season.
On offense, Omaha North is led by quarterback Mikey Gow, a transfer from Bellevue East.
Gow has garnered national attention for his ability to throw ambidextrously, with highlight videos having hundreds of thousands of views and being featured on NFL Network.
His play on the field has backed up the hype, throwing for 550 yards and five touchdowns in his three games so far.
The primary target of Gow's is Darion Jones, who has 13 receptions for 259 yards and four touchdowns this season.
The Vikings also boast tight end Deon Cooper, a 6-foot 1-inch 195-pound target who is a bruising runner and adept blocker.
Running back Jaron Cannon is a shifty runner, keeping defenses off-balance.
Omaha North's offensive arsenal is well protected with a dominant offensive line.
Connor Cook is a 6-foot 9-inch, 330-pound tackle, boasting offers from Georgia State, Eastern Michigan, and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Cook is also a district champ in the discus.
"Omaha North is Omaha North, they're going to try to establish the run with some power and some iso, and come back and throw a little play action off of it," Cool said. "They have playmakers who can get it in the end zone in a hurry if we don't do a good job of open field tackling."
Jones plays both sides to lead the secondary, catching three interceptions as a defensive back, ranking second in the state.
The defensive trenches are led by Husker commit Tyson Terry, a 6-foot 3-inch 270-pound four star recruit.
"Defensively they've given opponents more looks than I've seen them give in many, many years," Cool said. "Everything stems off of Terry, and there's a reason he's going to Nebraska, he's a fantastic football player."
Omaha North is on a two-game win streak, defeating Omaha Central 28-18 and No. 8 Papillion-LaVista 39-20 after suffering a hard-fought 22-9 loss to No. 2 Omaha Westside to open the year.
