Marty Kirkland: Countdown closing in on kickoff time

If you’re a regular reader of our section, you’ve probably noticed a little number in the top right corner of the front page getting smaller each day. (It’s not there today, but it’s been appearing in the paper every day save Mondays since Aug. 2.) And when you pick up the paper on Tuesday, it will be down to 3 — the number of days remaining until high school football season begins for the area.

When we started running the countdown calendar 24 days away from the season, it was as much to get readers excited as to keep us on task and remind ourselves how quickly August flies by. We’ll publish our annual high school football preview on Thursday, and we hope the work we put into it this month talking with coaches and players has helped us get to know the 2010 edition of your favorite team well enough to let you know how things look for them.

With the exception of Christian Heritage, everyone in the area will start their schedule at home or, in the case of Murray County, be making a short trip. I’ve written it before and will write it again, but here it is: Go see a game.

High school football has the potential to bring out the best in those who participate as well as those who support it, so when you can, get out and let yourself be seen and heard by your team. The coaches and athletic directors won’t mind you helping them pull in a good take at the ticket gate now and then, either. And with little travel to worry about on Friday, this is one of the most convenient weeks of the year for area football fans.

This week’s opening schedule:

• Christian Heritage at Crown Athletics Knights — The only true “road game” for the area this week, the Lions’ opener will be played at Kell High’s stadium in Marietta. Christian Heritage had a heartbreaking finish to the 2009 season, coming painfully close to another Glory for Christ Football League championship, and the road to redemption starts with this non-league game that will help the Lions prep for their league opener two weeks later.

• Heritage-Catoosa at North Murray — The Mountaineers will host the first regular-season varsity game in program history at Murray Field, the home of the school/team from which they sprang. Awkward? Probably not, considering they’ve spent the preseason using one of the Indians’ practice fields. Heritage is a relatively new program itself — this is its third season — but it will have little sympathy for the Mountaineers being young. The Patriots went straight into varsity and region competition the year they opened.

• Lambert at Northwest Whitfield — The Bruins begin their lonely tenure as the only area team remaining behind in Region 7-4A, and they jump straight into a game that “matters” with the league standings on the line immediately. The Longhorns, a second-year team playing a full varsity schedule for the first time, are one of several new programs in this region. But their coach, Sid Maxwell, will remember the Bruins and vice versa. He led Sequoyah for 15 seasons and led the Chiefs to three victories against Northwest, including a 10-7 win in 2008.

• Murray County at Southeast Whitfield — I covered the last meeting between these two schools, a 100-point affair that panicked me because I was running out of room on the stat sheet. It included a program record-setting 95-yard kickoff return by Indians running back Cameron Hudson, who was enjoying a breakout sophomore season, and was Murray County’s final game in Region 7-4A before two forgettable years in Class 5A. Southeast will test seven new starters on offense, including a very green line, but has some big-play potential.

• Calhoun at Dalton — This series pitting two of Northwest Georgia’s most consistently competitive programs of recent years resumed in 2006, and the Yellow Jackets and Catamounts have split the matchups down the middle by alternating wins. Three of four games have been decided by a touchdown or less, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to expect this one to be as interesting in the fourth quarter as in the first. It’s also Matt Land’s debut leading the Cats after a long run as a community coach.

In addition to a lot of high school football, what else is going on this week? Glad you asked:

• Cyclists, you’ve got a week left to get the early registration discount for the Raisin Hope Ride. Saul Raisin called this week to let us know Miss Georgia will be making an appearance. The former pro cyclist who recovered from a life-threatening crash is eager to add to the funds he has raised in recent years for victims of traumatic brain injuries, and the ride is a big part of that quest.

• Think slowpitch softball might be more your speed in an increasingly fastpitch world? The Dalton Parks and Recreation Department is offering an option for girls who still want to play that version of the sport and registration is under way at dprdsports.com. For more details, see the Local Sports Calendar on page 32.

• If you think Wiffle ball is just for family reunions and lazy afternoons, this might not be the event for you. If you want to add a little competitive spice to your game, well, here you go. The Georgia State Wiffle Ball Championships are scheduled for this Saturday in Dalton. Check out nwhbf.net for more information.

Marty Kirkland is Sports Editor of The Daily Citizen. Got something you think he should highlight in “What’s Going On?” Write to him at martykirkland@daltoncitizen.com.

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