Doesn't it

feel like the wait until football season starts gets

longer and longer each year?

Starting

Friday at 7:30 p.m., stadiums all across the state will

light up, fill with people from the neighborhood, and

roar like a freight train. Fayette County is lucky enough

to host three home games this weekend, including a

special Saturday night match.

Friday, the

Fayette County Tigers host the Paulding County Patriots.

The Patriots finished their season 4-6 last year, while

the Tigers finished 6-4. Fayette County lost some

offensive firepower but they still have tailback Wes

Clark. Clark, returning this season from an injury that

kept him out of deciding games last season for the

Tigers, is back 100 percent, as well as bigger and

stronger.

The Tigers

will look to put some points on the board early and ease

their team and their new quarterback junior Nathaniel

Enloe into the new season. The defense should be able to

hold Paulding County, but creating turnovers would truly

help. The Fayette County defense needs to dramatically

improve from last year, where they allowed over nine

points more per game than they could score.

Coach

Rodney Walker makes his coaching debut for Sandy Creek,

as the Patriots host a truly tough competitor in the

Morrow Mustangs. Morrow is a big team that continually

reloads season after season, while the Patriots are

coming off a season of heartbreaking losses.

Walker has

a disciplined bunch that gets very fired up on defense.

The defense will have to be good to give a young offense

all the help it can get. The offense may be shaky early

on in the season but, growing under new quarterback Andre

Green, could become a formidable foe late in the season.

The

Patriots are young and a tad inexperienced and playing

the Mustangs in the opener will not likely be very

pretty. If they can play mistake-free ball and get a few

lucky breaks, it may be closer than anyone thinks.

The

McIntosh Chiefs have to travel to play the Pebblebrook

Falcons Friday night. Pebblebrook went 9-1 last season

and made it to the second round of the playoffs. They are

big, strong and can dominate a game from very early on.

Though the Chiefs return five starters on defense, they

needed to refill their entire defensive line.

The Chiefs

lost a number of players to graduation, and a few more

players to injury and suspension. They are not a very big

team and often being out-sized can be the biggest

disadvantage in high school football. Only two offensive

starters return to the squad, but Ashmore believes his

underclassmen are talented. They will be led by sophomore

quarterback Luke Wiggs.

Saturday

night will feature an interesting match-up, when the

Starr's Mill Panthers host the Riverdale Raiders at Tiger

Stadium in Fayetteville. Riverdale went undefeated last

season and lost in the semifinals of the state playoffs,

while the Panthers begin their first season with a senior

class. The Panthers grew last season into a team that

should not be overlooked, and their intensity on both

sides of the ball could keep them close to most, if not

all, of their opponents.

Junior Brad

McClaren leads the team from the quarterback position,

standing in front of a very talented back field. Craig

Maddock is the work horse for the ground attack,

supplemented by a state champion triple jumper in Reuben

Houston and the quick feet of LaDon Cooper. Overall 10

starters return to the offense.

Seven

starters return to the defense. Coach Earwood needs them

to be aggressive and force their opponents into making

mistakes. They must improve on last year's points allowed

total, allowing their opponents to score over 30 points

per game. A solid defense this year could result in the

few extra wins necessary to get the panthers in the

playoffs.

All games

kickoff at 7:30 p.m. The Panthers will play their home

games at Tiger Stadium in Fayetteville.