It’s been a long summer of attending 7-on-7 and padded camps, but now, as of this Friday, high school football in the state of Georgia is officially back.
There were some scrimmages last week, but I’ve had Friday, Aug. 12, circled on my calendar for a while. In my opinion, there’s no better time than football season.
Fans of Greene County, Morgan County, Putnam County, Gatewood School, Lake Oconee Academy, Baldwin, John Milledge Academy, and GMC Prep will have something to cheer about soon.
These times are almost here.
This season will be a little different than last in terms of our football coverage. We have Brendan Koerner now working for us fulltime, so both of us, plus Ian Tocher from the Eatonton Messenger, will be balancing all the work. Arella Cash, who is a senior at PCHS, will also be roaming the sidelines at her school.
A lot of work goes into our football coverage. We each take photos, conduct player and coach interviews, and gather statistics and facts about the games.
I have a lot of experience covering college football, but I’m going into just my second at the high school level. There are a lot of differences, as you can imagine.
However, I enjoy covering high school football so much more because of its amateur status. Not discrediting the players’ abilities, but I just like the rawness of this level of the sport. It’s hard to explain, but I will try to do my best: A) High school football doesn’t have any ‘professionalism’ about it. It’s essentially kids playing football on the first big stage of their lives.
B) The passion on the sidelines and stands runs deep. High school football in small-town America is the highlight of the week for most cities across the country during the fall. Players wear their jerseys to school, pep rallies take place and most of the town shows up to the games. There’s just something different that makes it so much more unique.
C) The love for the game. The players and coaches pour their hearts and souls into Friday nights. You can see it on the sidelines. Literally. Tears get shed when one team loses to its crosstown rival. They also are shed when a team wins.
Those are the reasons why I love Friday nights so much more. There’s also something about being under the lights on a fall Friday night that makes me content.
I cannot wait to get the season started on Aug. 19. Let’s go! In the meantime, look out for the Lake Country Sports football preview, which comes out soon.
Reporter