Mid-to-late August signals the start of high school football season.

Each and every Friday night from now until early November, prep teams from all over the state will put on the shoulder pads and buckle-up their chin straps in preparation to do battle on the gridiron.

Hailed as one of North Carolina’s most popular sports, high school football is king here in the Roanoke-Chowan area. All of our teams at one time or another have enjoyed success on the gridiron.

With the opening of the 2006 regular season scheduled for tomorrow (Friday), the sports staff of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald stands ready to bring you all the action. For the 10th consecutive season, our sports writers and photographers will blanket R-C area teams and bring to our readers next-day coverage in our Saturday edition. We are the only northeastern North Carolina newspaper to provide Saturday morning coverage of Friday night football.

So, when you awake for that first cup of coffee on Saturday morning, reach for a copy of the News-Herald and check out the football results from one night earlier. We will have all the highlights from Bertie, Gates County, Hertford County, Lawrence Academy, Northampton-East, Northampton-West and Northeast Academy plus scores from other high school games in North Carolina.

Remember, if you can’t be there, we can.