On his home field, Ray-Pec’s Zander Dombrowski leads Missouri to All-Star win over Kansas

With high school football still a few months away, many athletes, coaches and fans would do anything to speed up the wait time.

But that wasn’t the story at Raymore-Peculiar high school on Friday night. The Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association held its annual Be YOUnion Kansas-Missouri All-Star game — reserved for class-of-2023 high school seniors.

Outside of state bragging rights and fan bases pitted against each other, it was an opportunity for some of the top area talent to square off one last time before heading to their respective colleges.

And by the final horn, the contest did live up to the hype, as Missouri took home a 16-8 victory over Kansas in a battle decided in the game’s last minute.

“There’s nothing like playing Friday night football here at Ray-Pec,” Raymore-Peculiar quarterback and recipient of Missouri MVP honors Zander Dombrowski said. “Just being able to come out one more time, home stadium, and just go out and compete.”

Having played his last two years at Ray-Pec, Dombrowski understandably garnered more cheers from the home fans than some of his teammates donning the black and gold uniforms.

The Central Missouri commit kept those cheers going early, connecting with Platte County wide receiver Dom Spears deep across the middle of the field for a 61-yard touchdown. The Missouri team had the lead some 90 seconds and three plays into the scrimmage.

With only five full days to practice and a new offense to learn, Dombrowski noted how tough the preparation was for Friday’s game. However, he trusted his future University of Central Missouri teammate Spears to make a play against man coverage.

Dombrowski finished completing 7 of 14 passes for 142 yards. The ground-and-pound focused Kansas team totaled 46 passing yards.

“I was up to the challenge and I think everybody else here was up to the challenge, too,” Dombrowski said. “Nothing’s better than high school football, and the fact that I got to win MVP is something really special.”

The Missouri defense’s fortitude strengthened as the half continued. Following a successful goal-line stand on Team Kansas’ opening drive, the bunch forced multiple punts and two fumbles against Team Kansas’ run-dominant play style.

Missouri led 10-0 at halftime after adding a field goal in the second quarter.

With the sun setting, the stadium’s lights turning on and a GKCFCA Hall of Fame induction ceremony completed — all during the break — the second half presented a prime opportunity for Team Kansas to get back in the game. But instead it was Dombrowski who picked up his second passing touchdown; this time he found Blue Springs wideout Joe White from nine yards out.

Although White, a Missouri Baptist University commit, was the player who reached the pylon with the football, he credited his teammate Blue Springs wide receiver Kaden Lutjen-Williams for helping set the table two plays prior. Lutjen-Williams, another Missouri Baptist commit and White’s future roommate, diced up his defender for a 32-yard reception to put Missouri in the red zone.

“Come out here and have fun — we want to make this our job at the end of the day,” Lutjen-Williams said. “Without our coaches, you know, without each other, without Eli (Youman), our other teammate that played with us tonight, we wouldn’t be doing this.”

After the touchdown, Kansas’ offense finally found its heartbeat. Behind a carousel of running backs — passing the ball once during a nearly eight-minute drive — Kansas’ run-heavy approach led to a touchdown and two-point conversion.

Suddenly, it was 16-8 and a one-score game with less than seven minutes remaining. The Missouri squad missed a field goal that would’ve pushed the margin to 11, leaving Team Kansas three minutes to complete its late-game comeback.

More importantly, the chance for a first Kansas All-Star win since 2019 was on the table.

However, behind back-to-back sacks on third and fourth down, Kansas’ comeback hopes faltered. On fourth-and-14, North Kansas City linebacker Kaden Torres shot through the line of scrimmage to sack Mill Valley quarterback Hayden Jay.

“It’s like a certain rush you get through your body when you’re about to win the game, especially when that sack happened,” White said. “Feels good to win that last high school game, go out with a bang.”

Black-and-gold jerseys seized the field in excitement with high fives and chest bumps. As time expired and hands were shaken, two players dumped Gatorade onto Fort Osage and All-Star game head coach Brock Bult to celebrate the big win.

Afterwards, Bult expressed how much of a blast he had with the coaches and players during the past week. He also shared some good news about the team’s special jerseys — reminding players to keep them as they left the field.

“I remember when I played in it a long time ago, and I just wanted to make sure it was a special experience for them,” Bult said. “I’m glad we came out on the top side of it.”