The towns are separated by 58 miles, each just far enough from downtown to escape the bright lights in favor of the charm of a small community. Kearney and Harrisonville sit on opposite perimeters of greater Kansas City, but they share more similarities than differences.

And true to the small-town banality, high school football is one of them. Friday nights are must-see occasions. The high-profile players are prominent local names.

And, oh, yeah, there’s this …

“We both play smashmouth football,” Harrisonville senior Morgan Selemaea said. “It’s what the Kansas City boys are known for.”

For the first time since 1969, that smashmouth style from the western border of Missouri will be on constant display in a state championship setting.

Kearney and Harrisonville will play for the Missouri Class 4 state title at 7 p.m. Friday at Missouri State’s Plaster Stadium in Springfield. It will mark the first state football final featuring two teams from the Kansas City metro in 47 years.

In 1969, the second year of state championship football sanctioned by the Missouri State High School Activities Association, Midway defeated Smithville 24-0 for the Class 1A title. In the nearly five decades since, teams from the Kansas City metropolitan area have produced 58 state titles. But never again have two of them met in the final.

Until Friday.

“Too bad we gotta drive by each other on the way down here,” Kearney coach Greg Jones said. “Maybe we should just play it at Arrowhead.”

The matchup includes a pair of teams that feel fortunate to simply be playing in the season’s final week, particularly Harrisonville.

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