The games will technically be scrimmages, but for football starved junkies like myself, it won’t matter.
Our local teams will all be on the field this Friday as they each take another step toward the official start of the 2012 season. Winder-Barrow High School will scrimmage at South Forsyth for the second consecutive year. (South Forsyth boasts one of the best high school football facilities I’ve seen in our state.)
Apalachee High School will get to play at home against Elbert County. Tyshon Dye, who will be playing for Clemson next year at this time, is one of the top running backs in the state and will roll into town along with his Blue Devil teammates.
Bethlehem Christian Academy will make the short trek to Loganville Christian Academy for their preseason scrimmage. The Knights are set to enter their first full season of varsity football competition this fall.
All players at the three schools have been working for weeks, months even, to prepare for the new gridiron campaign. Weight training, offseason conditioning and now official preseason practice has brought us to this point on the football calendar.
There are many story lines for the 2012 season for our local programs. WBHS is moving into a new region and new classification, along with AHS. Both are now part of Region 8-AAAAA, after the Georgia High School Association decided to have six classifications for at least the next two years.
The Bulldoggs are hoping to get in the victory column early as they face Jackson County in their season opener Aug. 31. The Panthers have gathered some preseason talk after school officials hired Benji Harrison, the former offensive coordinator at Flowery Branch. Harrison’s Falcon teams posted mind-boggling offensive stats, including more than 40 points per contest. WBHS is also debuting new offensive and defensive schemes in the contest.
The AHS Wildcats are determined to make it back to the postseason after a two-year absence. The region is daunting although coach Shane Davis and his assistants are clearly focused on returning to the state playoffs once again.
At BCA, there is simply excitement in the air because the Knights are taking a big step with their football program. The school’s athletic program generated plenty of news with its first-ever full varsity baseball team advancing to the state semifinals. While it will likely take the football program a little longer to establish itself, there is optimism that some degree of success will be enjoyed in 2012.
It’s been several months since a football game was played in Barrow County. Now the new season is just over the horizon. It should be an interesting one to watch.
On another preseason note, the Barrow Journal’s annual football preview section will be included in our Aug. 29 edition. We believe we have something special for football fans this year and encourage you to be on the lookout for it.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal.
