It’s been an up and down adventure for the Northeast Kansas League over the past few seasons. The league finished with just two teams above .500 in 2020 compared to five teams that finished .500 or better in 2021.

Last season, the league once again saw just two teams finish above the .500 mark with ACCHS and Jefferson County North. ACCHS finished 6-3 while JCN finished the season 6-4. Jackson Heights won four games and the rest of the league won three or less games.

ACCHS won their second straight league title for the first time since the early 1970’s. Jefferson County North was the only team in the league last season to win a playoff game.

Pleasant Ridge, McLouth, and Maur Hill-Mount Academy all won two league games last season while Horton, Valley Falls, and Oskaloosa each finished with one league win.

The league is certainly open in 2023 as ACCHS will look for their third straight league championship. Every team has at least two players returning with all-league honors from last season.

There are four new head coaches in the league entering 2023 with ACCHS, Horton, Pleasant Ridge, and McLouth all under new leadership.

The Jefferson County North Chargers posted a solid 2022 season with six wins and a playoff victory. Head coach Jeff Schneider returns to the sidelines for his ninth season at the helm. He brings back 17 letterwinners, 16 upperclassmen including 11 seniors, and nine starters from last year’s team on both sides of the ball. They have the most returning talent in the league with seven players back in 2023 that earned all-league honors last season. With all the experience this team has, Jefferson County North will be in the hunt for an NEKL title and will look to give St. Mary’s a run for their money for a district title too.

The Jackson Heights Cobras finished with just one league loss in 2022 but they finished just 1-4 in district play. Overall, they finished with four wins and were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual state champs in St. Marys. Head coach Caleb Wick has a young team to work with this fall, but he does have a good amount of skill position players returning on offense. Wick has proven over his career at Jackson Heights that he can develop players quickly and turn them into solid players. No matter how many wins or losses this team has this year, expect them to fight every game and every snap.

The Pleasant Ridge Rams will have a new head coach entering the 2023 season. Spencer Foster steps in and takes over a program that finished 2-7 last season. The Rams have plenty of intrigue heading into this season. They have depth at almost every position and return a bevy of seniors who have played both ways for multiple seasons. It’s a new coaching staff made up of coaches who have played in the program and share the same goals. The Rams will look to knock off the two-time league champs in ACCHS and take another step to make some noise towards the end of the season. 

The Maur Hill-Mount Academy Ravens finished the 2022 season with a record of 3-6. The Ravens failed to make the playoffs and finished the season with a victory over Horton. The seniors will be tough to replace with four guys playing at the collegiate level. The bright side last season was the number of underclassmen who got valuable playing time against good competition. That should help with the improvement across the board in 2023. Zackary Fredrickson enters his second season as head coach and will hope the youth’s production last season will transition to improved play in 2023.

The ACCHS Tigers will once again have the target on their back when it comes to the Northeast Kansas League. The Tigers secured their second consecutive league title in 2022 going a perfect 6-0 in league play. For ACCHS, it’s the first back-to-back league titles since the 1970 and 1971 seasons. The Tigers will have a new head coach in 2023 as Kody Tegtmeier takes over the program. Tegtmeier is a Hanover native with plenty of coaching experience. Theres no question that it will be tough for the Tigers to come away with the three-peat title in the NEKL in 2023. With younger kids playing and a new head coach there are bound to be some challenges along the way.

The Valley Falls Dragons will hope to see big improvements after their first year back in 11-Man with a final record of 1-8 in 2022. Head coach Wyatt Hofstra enters his third year, and he has big expectations from his squad this season. They return nine starters on both sides of the ball and only lose two seniors. This team has tremendous amounts of youth and potential with some skilled veterans sprinkled in. If they figure things out in their running game and win some of those close games that slipped through their fingers a year ago, they can get back to the playoffs and possibly flirt with an opportunity to get their first winning season since 2010.

The Oskaloosa Bears copied their 2021 record in 2022 with an overall mark of 1-8. Their only win came in the final game of the regular season, which also happened in 2021. Head coach Eddie Minor has his first season at Oskaloosa in the books and is ready for year two. With this past season behind them and seven starters returning on both sides of the ball, they look to expound on the information and experience gathered from their shortcomings and become a better football team in 2023.

The McLouth Bulldogs in 2022 finished with a record of 2-7 which was their best season since 2018. They won their last game of 2019 and then went a combined 0-15 in 2020 and 2021. They lost their first five games of 2022 before winning back-to-back games against Valley Falls and Oskaloosa. The Bulldogs will look to take a few more strides this season with Seth Mills stepping in as the new head coach. They will have seven returning starters on offense and eight returning starters on defense. Mills notes that they had a good offseason and summer in the weightroom, and he’s excited to see how the pieces will come together on the field.

The Horton Chargers finished the 2022 season with a record of 1-8. The win was significant as it snapped a 38-game losing streak dating back to 2017. The win was in week two against McLouth with the final score 22-14. The team returns nearly all their starters this season under first year head coach Andy Gwennap. The Chargers return 20 letterwinners in total with all 11 returning starters on offense and 10 returning starters on defense. With most of the roster returning and a new head coach, there should be plenty of optimism for Horton in 2023.