A wait that has lasted since the middle of November will finally come to an end Friday night.

Nathan Cabot’s Owensville Dutchmen will open the 2022 football season against a different but very familiar opponent.

Dropping Potosi’s Trojans from their schedule, the orange and black will welcome Cuba’s Wildcats to Dutchmen Field Friday night in a Highway 19 gridiron showdown kicking off at 7 p.m.

Dating back to 2014, the Dutchmen have won the last eight meetings against their Highway 19 neighbors to the south.

Going back to the Kevin Baldwin era of Dutchmen football, Owensville ran the table against Cuba winning all eight games against the Wildcats from 1998 to 2005.

Currently 16-0 against their Highway 19 foe from Crawford County, Cabot’s Dutchmen will look to make it 17 wins in a row Friday night at Dutchmen Field.

“We’re ready to play, our guys are ready to get after it to get another win against Cuba,” Cabot said.

In years past, a season-opening home game would mean four in a row on the road.

This will not be the case at least for the next two years.

Picking up Warrenton’s Warriors to replace Potosi, Owensville will travel to Warren County on Friday, Sept. 9 to wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule.

In between facing the Wildcats and Warriors, Owensville will host Eldon’s Mustangs to kick off the September portion of the season on Friday, Sept. 2 with a 7 p.m., kickoff at Dutchmen Field.

Following Owensville’s road trip along Interstate 70, the Dutchmen will return home to open the Four Rivers Conference (FRC) portion of their schedule against St. James’ Tigers on Friday, Sept. 16.

Friday, Sept. 23 will be a day that Dutchmen football fans have looked forward to for a year.

That is because they will have the chance to reclaim the Gasconade County Bowl trophy from Hermann’s Bearcats after a painful overtime loss last fall at Bearcat Memorial Stadium.

That Friday will also likely be homecoming in southern Gasconade County.

Rounding out the September portion of the schedule, the Dutchmen will venture along Interstate 44 into Franklin County to face Paul Day’s Pacific Indians.

That could also be homecoming for the Indians in the Meramec Valley.

October football will kick off with a Friday, Oct. 7 home showdown against Union’s Wildcats.

This will be followed by a pair of FRC road contests in Sullivan against the Eagles on Friday, Oct. 14 and in St. Clair versus the Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 21.

A complete preview of Dutchmen Football will be in next week’s fall sports preview section.