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After Further Review: Cole Young 8/6Photo Credit: Cole Young

With football starting in just four short weeks, it’s time to start looking at the calendar of big games around the area. This should be a memorable season with more Division 1 talent in the area in a long, long time and also an abundance of new head coaches at some of the city’s biggest programs. 

Week 1- Lee’s Summit North @ Liberty North - What a way to start the 2022 season. Two Class 6 semifinalists and two teams loaded with top tier Division 1 talent. These two locked up in a classic last season with Liberty North winning 38-35. With these two schools not in the same conference this season, there’s not much on the line other than a great early season matchup. 

HM- Penney @ Lafayette County - A Class 1 quarterfinalist and a Class 2 semifinalist match up in a game that could be a big points boost for Penney for the playoffs. 

MICDS @ Harrisonville - What are we calling this one? The Fred Feud? The Bouchard Bowl? Also the return of Brent Maxwell to the sidelines for the Wildcats. 

Week 2- Raymore-Peculiar @ Park Hill - The last three times these two teams met, it was decided by less than one score, including last season’s 3 OT thriller that Ray-Pec won 43-40. Zander Dombrowski and Kendrick Bell each threw for five touchdowns and are back this season. 

HM- Platte County @ Smithville - Two neighboring schools and the first big test for the defending Class 4 champions, Smithville. 

Week 3- NKC @ Platte County - These two teams are loaded with talent. The winner of this game will likely be in the drivers’ seat for a district title assuming they are in the same district again this year. 

Week 4 - Maryville @ St. Pius X - Last season these two played to a 14-13 St. Pius X win. Maryville finished 7-5 last season but should be on the upswing this season while Pius’ junior Jayshawn Ross will be the best player on the field in nearly every game. 

Week 5 Odessa @ Pleasant Hill - In the playoffs last season, Pleasant Hill knocked off Odessa 49-48 in a game that suddenly had a lot of teams taking the Roosters a lot more seriously. After reaching the state quarterfinals, Justin Hamilton’s Pleasant Hill squad will have to play with the target on them this season. 

Week 6 - Lee’s Summit West @ Blue Springs South - This one is a matchup of two of the Suburban Gold’s new coaches. Fun fact, did you know of the five teams in the Gold this year, only Sean Martin is not a new coach? He’s in his third season as head coach of Ray-Pec. This will be a good measuring stick for both Blue Spring South’s Alan Wilmes and Lee’s Summit West’s Willie Horn. 

Week 7 - Blue Springs @ Rockhurst - There are few rules in the PrepsKC handbook but when Blue Springs plays Rockhurst, it’s required to make this a game to watch. Blue Springs and Rockhurst are both coming off sub .500 seasons but both could double their win totals from 2021. 

Week 8 Mid Buchanan @ East Buchanan - The KCI Conference title likely could be decided with this game. Mid- Buchanan has been the team to beat in the conference the last several years and East Buchanan finally did in the playoffs last year before rolling to a Class 1 title. 

Week 9 - Lee’s Summit @ Park Hill South - Depending on how things shake out, this game could have a big bearing on the new Suburban Silver conference. Park Hill South comes off the best season in school history with a new coach while Lee’s Summit has its biggest recruit in Joshua Manning since Drew Lock was playing for the Tigers.