High school football officially started practice last week so it’s time to pull out you calendars and start planning where you will spend your Friday nights this fall.

Below are just a few of what should be many great games in our area.

I apologize for the exclusion of the private schools from this list however I did not have access to a copy of the schedules when writing this.

August 27th the Cougars of Goldsboro will be traveling to Bertie.

This will be the Falcons first home game and should be a battle.

The Cougars are coming off an 8-4 season and have lost quite a few players on both sides of the ball.

However they still have some Division one prospects including 6′-6&uot;, 320 lb. offensive lineman Jarrett Bryant.

Bertie first year head coach Willie Roberson has some talent returning as well.

With a pair of talented defensive tackles in Macquinton Vinson and Deven Saunders the Falcons defense will be hard to stop.

This should be a hard hitting game.

September 3rd Hertford County hosts the Red Barons of Gates County.

This is a rivalry that has formed over the last few years and Gates County has more than held their own.

New Bears head coach Greg Watford takes over a talented team that went 9-3 last season.

He has added to that talent players from an undefeated JV team last year.

Expect some great football to be played in Hertford County this year.

September 10th will have Greenville Rose at Bertie and Wilson Hunt at Hertford County.

It will be impossible to see both but whichever you choose you should not be disappointed.

Greenville Rose went 14-2 last year and returns a stifling defense.

However the Rampants have only 2 players left over from last year’s offense and are looking to rebuild on that side of the ball.

The Wilson Hunt-Hertford County rivalry still runs strong from the Bears days in the Big 8.

Hunt has a pair of talented runners in the backfield but will be hard pressed to score on a defense that allowed only 13 points per game last season.

September 24th its East versus West, the battle for pride in Northampton County.

Given Northampton East’s 1-10 record last year, this game may get ugly quick.

However the Rams return most of their players from last season and with an extra year of experience they could surprise everyone.

If they want it to be close at all they will have to find a way to stop the Hurricane’s Andre’ Williams.

Williams is a tremendous runner out of the backfield averaging 1000 yards a season coming into his senior year.

However he may be even better on defense as he totaled over 200 tackles last year alone.

October 1st brings the Franklinton Red Rams to Northampton West.

Franklinton was 8-4 last season and is led by new skipper Dickie Schock and features all state quarterback Mario Bellamy.

At 6′-2&uot; Bellamy is a prototypical quarterback with a canon for an arm.

Hurricanes offensive/defensive lineman Joe Huff is 6′- 4&uot; and over 300 pounds.

Expect him to keep Bellamy on the lookout and give the Red Rams some problems up front.

November 5th is the final game of the regular season and means one thing to this football fan, Bears versus Falcons.

The importance of this game is self-explanatory.

Any football fan in the area knows that when these two teams meet you can throw all the records out the window.

They mean nothing.

Although both coaches will try to aim the focus on their athletes I look forward to seeing these two skippers battle it out from the sidelines.

They each have tremendous respect for the other and they will do nothing but make this rivalry better.

If that’s possible.

I am interested in hearing what you think.

If you agree or disagree with my opinion on something, have an idea for a column topic or just want to let me know someone is reading this every once in awhile please e-mail me.

My address is dave@gate811.net.

I look forward to hearing from you.