ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO/WQRF) — There is a not-so-subtle hint that fall and high school football season are coming. Teams hit the practice fields Monday for their first sessions leading up to the start of the season.
They have less than three weeks to get ready. The season kicks off for a few teams in the state on Thursday, August 24th. The majority of the teams will play their openers on Friday, August 25th. A few more will take the field for their first games on Saturday the 26th.
Most of these teams spent a good chunk of the summer going through summer sessions. Some teams, like Byron, practiced against teams from other area schools. Byron coach Jeff Boyer says with a busy summer schedule most teams are ready to go when August hits.
“The work in the summer it pays pays off huge here when we start practice. We’re probably a lot further ahead than what we used to be, you know, 25 years ago. I think, all sports, it’s changed a little bit over the summer and what you can do with kids and the amount of work that you get in.”
Regan Holgate and I will once again be spotlighting our Rockford area teams in our Two-A-Day previews. It starts Tuesday with a look at the Eastland-Pearl City Wildcatz at 6 pm. on WTVO and then the Byron Tigers at 9 p.m. on Fox 39 and 10 p.m. on WTVO.
