Bragging rights are on the line in this week's DiPasquale Moore/PrepsKC Metro Game of the Week.
Center and Lincoln Prep will meet Friday in the latest iteration of this crosstown rivalry game. Sure, it's only Week 2. But these two programs know what's at stake: the title of Kings of the City.
Last season, Center claimed the throne with a 42-7 beatdown. The year prior, Lincoln Prep was the victor with a resounding 29-14 win.
First-year coaches led both teams. Center, 1-0, is rebuilding after last year's 11-win season. It's a youth movement for the Yellowjackets, but 2023's senior class set a winning standard at Center, head coach Rob Powell-Deppe said.
The expectation hasn't changed, he said.
Moments after Center's Week 1 win over St. Joseph Lafayette, Powell-Deppe made mention of cleaning up first-game errors. What else would a coach say?
"Clean it up," Powell-Deppe said more than once. "Clean it up."
He also alluded to what came next. This early-season showdown with a metro-area nemesis should be a good one.
"We will be ready (for the Blue Tigers)," Powell-Deppe said. "We clean up the mistakes, we're going to be a dangerous football team."
At Lincoln, Marcus Crosdale takes over for Chip Sherman, who led the Blue Tigers to a 9-2 record in his lone season at the Castle on the Hill. Crosdale is the program's third coach in three years. Former coach William Lowe left after the 2021 season for a gig in California after a pair of 11-win campaigns.
The Crosdale era started with a 20-0 loss to Cameron in Week 1. Lincoln Prep will look to get in the win column by taking down a rival. Center would love nothing better than to thump the Blue Tigers for the second year in a row.
Stay tuned.
