After a seven-week prelude, the second season starts tonight.

District football swings into full gear around the area, as every team — no matter the record — gets a second chance. But some local squads have no reason to forget about the accomplishments to this point in the year.

Take Cameron, for example.

Coming off a one-win campaign in Dave Rash’s first season as a head coach, the Dragons have put together one of the biggest turnarounds in recent memory and enter the district season with a 6-1 record. Cameron reeled off wins in its first four games and only suffered a loss to a ranked Maryville team that has all but wrapped up the conference title.

While he hopes his team can refocus for tonight’s game against Smithville, Rash wants the Dragons to recall the success that’s put them near the top of the Midland Empire Conference standings.

“The things in the past are good and let us get to where we are,” Rash said. “We want to build on it, but we don’t want to rest on what on it.”

Cameron won’t have to worry about taking a week off, though. Not in its highly competitive slate of games in Class 3 District 16 — which also includes Chillicothe and Savannah.

All four teams enter tonight with winning records, have a combined won-loss total of 21-7 and have each been ranked at various times in the Class 3 poll. The Hornets also have only one loss on the season, while Savannah recently reeled off three consecutive wins before last week’s loss to Maryville.

Even at 4-3, Smithville’s losses have been by a combined 11 points — including a double-overtime loss to Pleasant Hill — and the Warriors have looked much stronger in the last two weeks by scoring a total of 101 points.

“Whoever advances is going to have to play three very good football teams to do so, and that takes a lot out of you physically and mentally,” Savannah coach Mark Cole said.

Even with last year’s expanded playoff field, the Savages fell just short of a postseason berth after jumping to a 6-0 start in 2008. While the lesson was painful, Cole said he hopes the team has learned about the obstacles of such a fierce district.

Savannah receives perhaps its toughest test of the season when it hosts Chillicothe — ranked No. 7 in Class 3 — and would take control of its district destiny with a victory tonight. A first- or second-place finish in the district standings would give the Savages their first playoff berth since 1997 and just the second in school history.

“You can feel the excitement in the community,” Cole said. “They’ve got some expectations, and we do, too. This group of seniors has set this goal in their mind, and that’s the goal we’re trying to set for ourselves.

“It would be huge for the establishment of our program and validate what we’re doing here.”

From top to bottom, several other local districts appear up for grabs, as well.

As it proved to be a year ago, Class 1 District 16 could be only of the most competitive in the entire state. With all four teams — East Buchanan, Mid-Buchanan, North Platte and West Platte — employing spread offenses, the average margin of victory in the six district matchups was just 11.3 points. Three games were decided by single digits.

After a torrid start to last season, North Platte coach Jim Brockhoff watched his team stumble in a Week 8 loss to East Buchanan, and the Panthers were ultimately unable to salvage a trip to the postseason.

The Panthers have surged as of late and upended a previously ranked Rock Port squad, but Brockhoff doesn’t plan on taking any three of his KCI Conference rivals lightly during the next three contests.

“I think we’ve gotten better in the last three weeks, and now’s the time we want to be playing better,” Brockhoff said. “But I think anything can happen in this district, so it should be exciting for the fans.”

West Platte will open its district slate tonight against Mid-Buchanan but will have to deal with the loss of quarterback Brett Grindstaff, who was ejected from last week’s game against Plattsburg for a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in the first of two overtimes. Luke Wetzel will fill in under center for the Blue Jays.

Elsewhere, Central hopes to send longtime coach Tony Dudik out on a winning note with a playoff berth, which would be the second under Dudik, while a trip to regionals could once again be on the line when Benton and Lafayette face off in Week 10 if both teams can upend Excelsior Springs in the next two weeks.

Area District Assignments

Class 1 District 13

Braymer (4-3), Orrick (7-0), St. Mary’s (4-3), Wentworth Military Academy (1-6)

Class 1 District 14

Gallatin (4-3), Hamilton (6-0), Maysville (2-5), Polo (0-7)

Class 1 District 15

East Buchanan (5-2), Mid-Buchanan (4-3), North Platte (4-3), West Platte (5-2)

Class 1 District 16

Albany (1-6), King City (5-2), Rock Port (4-2), Tarkio (2-5)

Class 2 District 15

Lathrop (0-7), Lawson (6-1), Plattsburg (2-5), Van Horn (0-7)

Class 2 District 16

Bishop LeBlond (7-0), Maryville (6-1), South Harrison (6-1), Trenton (1-6)

Class 3 District 16

Cameron (6-1), Chillicothe (6-1), Savannah (5-2), Smithville (4-3)

Class 4 District 15

K.C. Central (0-7), Platte County (3-4), Staley (7-0), Westport (2-5)

Class 4 District 16

Benton (2-5), Excelsior Springs (2-5), Kearney (5-2), Lafayette (3-4)

Class 5 District 11

Central (2-5), Oak Park (2-5), Park Hill (6-1), Park Hill South (4-3)