Fall Sports Preview

by Bill Althaus, Grain Valley News


It's beginning to feel more and more like fall.

Temperatures are dipping, the breezes that waft through Moody Murray Field are welcome and refreshing and Coach David Allie's Eagles are back for another memorable season.

The Eagles won district titles for five consecutive seasons dating back to 2019.

However, that streak ended when Webb City defeated Grain Valley 21-9 in the Class 5 District 7 semifinals.

The Eagles finished with a 7-4 record and Allie believes this year's team has the depth and experience to begin another district streak in 2025.

“There are so many things I like about our team,” Allie said. “We lost 15 seniors off last year's team, but we had so much depth that we're going into this season with a lot of confidence.”

The Eagles open this season Friday night at home when they play host to Raytown.

“Everyone gets excited for the football season, especially the first game,” Activities director Brandon Hart said.

“Coach Allie and his teams have had so much success, and we are expecting more success this season.”

The same thing could be said about coach Flip Courter's Eagles softball team, that finished 33-3 last year and was the No. 1 team in the state for most of the season.

Although Makenna Moore, the Eagles player of the year, graduated, Courter believes this year's team has the talent, depth and experience to make another serious run for a state championship.

A 17-0 mercy-rule victory over William Chrisman last season secured the Eagles fifth consecutive conference title.

“What I respect so much about our team is that they work hard, the don't care who gets the accolades, all they want to do is win, and they are a great group to be around.”

Juniors Madison Rust and Molly Jones return from that 33-win team and they can't wait to get started.

“Last season ended before we made it to state,” Rust said, “and our only goal was winning a state championship.

“I know we have the talent to make that run again this season.”

Rust added, “We have a lot of talent and we really care about each other. We're all excited about this season because we think it's going to be special.”

Coach Brett Phillips boys soccer returns to action after a 14-8 campaign where the Eagles won their first conference title in many years.

“I've been coaching at Grain Valley the past six years, and I look back at our teams' success, the way our program has continued to grow, and it amazes me," Lewis said. "We had 200 kids in our summer camp, and that was amazing.

"We won conference last year for the first time in many seasons and look at the number of players and the talent we have on the field today. 

"Our freshman class is loaded with talent and I think a couple of them are going to get some playing time on varsity.

"And I love it when our guys talk about having fun. And you have more fun the more games you win. A lot of our guys were on that conference championship team last season and they want to have that type of success this fall."

Coach Tori Squiers, a Grain Valley High School graduate, believes this could be a breakout season for her Eagles.

"We had so many girls try out for the team this season, I had to make some cuts," said Squiers, whose Eagles were 20-13 last season with a second-place finish in the Suburban White Conference.

"That was a tough day. But on the positive side, we have four seniors and four juniors returning from last season, and we might have as much depth as any team I've coached at Grain Valley."

Hart shares each of his coach's enthusiasm for 2025.

​"We're excited about all our teams this season," Hart said. "This is my 10th season as the activities director and when I look back to my first year it's really unbelievable. We have great coaches who really inspire out athletes and we just continue to have more success each season."

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