AHOSKIE – Football season for the Bears will kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.

New Herford County High School Football Coach Scott Privott and the Bears will be starting practice on that day and will work for the next several weeks to prepare for the 2009 football season.

“We’re ready to get on the field,” Privott said. “I enjoy helping the young men with filling out recruiting questionnaires and things like that, but I’m ready to get on the field, get practice started and start working towards Gates County.”

Gates County will be the season opener for the Bears this year as they travel to Gatesville on Friday, August 21. The two are playing again after a four-year hiatus from each other’s schedules.

The game will also mark Privott’s first game as the Bears’ skipper.

“I’m ready for the lights to come on and to kick the ball off,” the coach said. “After a couple of series’, I’ll relax.”

After the season-opener at Gates County, the Bears will make the short trek to Windsor where they will square off with archrival Bertie High School in a non-conference affair.

“It’s going to be a challenge,” Privott said. “It’s difficult enough to play your rival once, but when you play them twice, it gets even more challenging.”

Hertford County will then play a Thursday night contest September 3 at Nash Central.

“When you play Bertie then have a short turnaround, going to Nash Central poses a threat,” Privott said. “We will only have three days to get ready for them.”

After those three road trips, Hertford County will come home for traditional non-conference foe Rocky Mount on September 11. They will then travel to Fayetteville on September 18 to square off with Terry Sanford High.

“That will be a real special trip,” Privott said. “I think the kids will like the trip. They have a lot of football tradition just like we do and to have the chance to play a team that is three hours away and play in a 5,000-seat stadium will be fun.”

After that, the Bears will be starting play in the Northeastern Coastal Conference.

League play begins September 25 at Northeastern High School.

A week later, HCHS will return home for just the second time all season when they host Edenton in a conference contest on October 2.

Homecoming is slated a week later on October 9 when Currituck pays a visit and then the Bears get a week off (Oct. 23) before traveling to First Flight.

They close out the season with a home date against Bertie.