The release of high school football schedules provide plenty of opportunities to think “Huh, I wonder how that game came about?” and “What in the world are they thinking scheduling that team?”
Consider this a guide as to where to begin your head scratching, record guessing and for anyone really good at Excel, district standing analyzing.
August 24- Missouri is the only state in action this week and there isn’t a better place to start than Park Hill and Lee’s Summit West. The Trojans made it to the Class 6 semifinals last year before falling to Blue Springs.
The only other team from Missouri to beat Park Hill last year? Lee’s Summit West. In fact, the Titans have taken down the Trojans each of the last two years by a combined 11 points.
August 30- The two defending champions from the EKL fact off in the first week? And ON A THURSDAY!?!? There’s no excuses to miss Bishop Miege at Blue Valley North. Every time Graham Mertz plays this year it’s going to be an event. But I literally added this game to my phone calendar.
September 7- I’m a sucker for interstate games, so while Blue Valley Northwest and Harrisonville may not be a match between state title contenders, these types of measuring sticks are great. Moreover, Harrisonville may have the most intriguing first four weeks of any team. Week 1 against Kearney, Week 2 against Maryville, Week 3 against Blue Valley Northwest and Week 4 against Columbia Battle.
What’s it going take to cancel an MRVC game and get Lamar in Week 5?
September 14- Rivalries are always fun games and Belton vs. Raymore-Peculiar may be one of the best. Belton has been making the most of life in Class 5, but always finds a spot on the schedule to take on the Panthers. Come for a decent game, stay for the chants between the two student bodies.
September 21- Teams start settling into their conference schedules at this point. A handful of good games dot the schedule including Blue Springs South at Blue Springs, Mill Valley at St. Thomas Aquinas and Staley at Lee’s Summit West.
September 28- Rockhurst at Bishop Miege- How long have we been waiting for this game? I’m not even sure what to say about this game. The Catholic school with the decades of history against the best Catholic school of the last decade.
October 5- The Liberty North Eagles have fallen on hard times the last two seasons, but with a full year of players in Greg Jones’ weight program, how far will the Eagles have come? What better way to find out than going on the road to Blue Springs, the measuring stick of every area team on the Missouri side.
October 12- Shawnee Mission East plays host to Lawrence Free State. The two teams didn’t play the last two seasons, but this one should be a fun matchup with two of the regions best coaches on the sidelines, Bob Lisher at Free State and East’s new head coach Fred Bouchard.
October 19- Lots of games with playoff implications this week. Just kidding, MSHSAA still hasn’t released the districts for this season. On the Kansas side, Blue Valley could be angling for a high seed when it takes on Blue Valley West in the regular season finale.
