The high school football season in the state of Missouri finally arrived Monday.
"It's exciting," Maryville head football coach Matt Webb said ahead of the first Spoofhound workout. "It's like Christmas for all high school coaches."
The long road to state that will take the better part of five months opened up with Maryville's full-squad practice at the 'Hound Pound as the countdown toward opening night on August 28 began.
It's a skilled group for the Spoofhounds with experience at every level and a set of captains — Jackson Dredge, Will McCollough, Carson Hageman and Tyson Atwell — that have played significant roles in previous seasons. That experience will be put to the test throughout the fall with one of the toughest Class 3 schedules in the state.
"We're challenging ourselves, and as a head coach I want to play people that are the best."
In addition to an always competitive Midland Empire Conference, Maryville's non-conference slate is daunting.
The Spoofhounds will again face the defending Class 2 champs in Blair Oaks on opening night. The Falcons have got the better end of the matchup in each of the last 10 meetings. Week one will also mark the third time in the last four games that Maryville and Blair Oaks will meet in Wardsville.
Pleasant Hill awaits Maryville in week two in the Spoofhounds home opener. Then, late in the season, a pair of new non-conference foes are slated with the playoffs on the horizon.
Maryville gets a postseason feel in its first-ever matchup with Gateway STEM High School. Gateway STEM is a Class 4 opponent out of St. Louis that went 9-1 in 2025 earning the top seed in districts.
"It's on a Saturday," Webb said of the week seven game against Gateway STEM. "A lot of people don't like that, but I see the competition and see that it's a great school to add. We're going to have a lot of variety in our schedule."
Maryville and Gateway STEM will meet Saturday, October 10 at 1pm in St. Louis.
The final week of the regular season is a battle with Odessa. The Spoofhounds and Bulldogs have squared off four times since 2015. Maryville won two of those games, including state quarterfinal bouts in 2018 and 2024.
"We're going to be challenged and we're going to be ready to rock. We'll see some tough opponents and need to play our best."
