Last week: Tonganoxie defeated Louisburg, 20-14, at home. Spring Hill rolled Bonner Springs, 47-7, at home.

Records: Both teams are 1-0

Last meeting: Spring Hill won, 18-14, at THS.

Series record: Tonganoxie is 6-4 all-time against Spring Hill. The teams first played in 1941 with SHHS winning, 13-0. The teams then took a little bit of a break — like a three-quarters of a century break. It was 75 years later the programs faced off in non-league contests in 2016 and 2017. THS won both of those games. When THS joined the Frontier League in 2018, the Chieftains and Broncos started playing each other as conference foes. They’ve faced off every year sans 2020 (Covid). Tonganoxie also has a regional playoff victory against Spring Hill in 2019. It marked Tonganoxie’s first-ever second playoff game victory and 10-win season in school history.

Coaches: Spring Hill’s Fred Bouchard is in his first year at SHHS, but he has a long decorated career at Missouri high schools. He brought a 251-58 record to Spring Hill and has four state titles to his credit from when he was at Harrisonville. Most recently, Bouchard was at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School. He had a 50-10 record at MICDS in five seasons before taking over at Spring Hill. He also is a member of the Missouri sports hall of famer. Tonganoxie’s Preston Troyer is in his fourth year at Tonganoxie as head coach, but it’s his 13th overall at THS after serving a decade as an assistant under his father, Al Troyer. Preston is 22-12 as head coach. Tonganoxie went 63-37 during Preston’s time as an assistant.

Trends: Both THS and Spring Hill once again play the same Frontier League foes this season and have two non conference games. Tonganoxie plays Lansing next Friday (9/19) for homecoming at Beaty Field and vs. Basehor-Linwood Oct. 10, also in Tonganoxie. Spring Hill plays non league games Sept. 26 at Piper and Oct. 17 at Emporia.

Two-minute drill: This will be the final year of Spring Hill in the Frontier League. The Broncos will be joining the United Kansas Conference starting with the 2026-27 school year. Tonganoxie and Spring Hill have battled through some tight games as league foes. The last four meetings have been oh so close. SHHS won, 18-14, last year in Tonganoxie. Spring Hill also won, 36-29, in 2023 year at SHHS. THS squeaked out a 27-24 victory in 2022, while Spring Hill won 27-21 in overtime in 2021. Both games were played at Beatty Field.