HIGH SCHOOL NOTEBOOK: Football teams take field for final tune-ups

The first night of the high school football season is a week away, and teams are making final preparations for the start of the season.

Most teams in the Albany area will take part in scrimmages tonight. The format of each of the scrimmages varies, depending on the agreements the teams involved reach.

Seven area schools are hosting scrimmages tonight. Among them are Dougherty’s scrimmage at Hugh Mills Stadium against Baconton Charter and Calhoun County’s home scrimmage against Westover.

Mitchell County hosts Schley County in a rematch of sorts of last year’s GHSA Class 1A-Public playoff game that Mitchell County won 22-21. Pelham is also home, taking on Thomasville.

Americus-Sumter brings Northside-Warner Robins in for its scrimmage, while Terrell County hosts Randolph-Clay. Sherwood Christian hosts Southwest Georgia in a GISA-GICAA crossover scrimmage.

Lee County, last year’s GHSA Class 6A champion, heads to Tift County. Monroe is at Miller County, while Worth County travels to Irwin County.

Terrell Academy and Westwood both travel to Ashford Academy in Ashford, Alabama, for a jamboree.

All of tonight’s scrimmages begin at 7:30 p.m. except for the Southwest Georgia-Sherwood scrimmage, which is slated for a 7 p.m. start.

Southland and Deerfield-Windsor will scrimmage next week. Southland hosts Trinity Christian-Dublin at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, while Deerfield-Windsor heads to Miller County for a 7:30 p.m. scrimmage Aug. 17.

Softball, volleyball underway

Competition in the fall sports of softball and volleyball began within the past week.

Lee County’s softball team, which won the Region 1-6A title last year, began its season Tuesday with a 2-0 loss at Lowndes. last year’s Region 1-7A champion and an Elite Eight qualifier. The Trojans were to host Colquitt County on Thursday and will play in a tournament this weekend at Columbus State.

Worth County, which finished third in GHSA Class 3A softball last year, was to open its season Thursday night against Bainbridge. The Rams head to Lee County on Aug. 16.

Dougherty’s softball team, which qualified for the Class 3A postseason last year but will play in Class 4A this fall, was to open its season Thursday night against Miller County and will host Randolph County on Monday at Highland Park. Westover opens Tuesday at Highland Park against Carver-Columbus, while Monroe’s first game will take place Aug. 16 at Highland Park against Dougherty.

Baconton Charter, which won GHSA Region 1-1A softball last year, opens Tuesday at Quitman County. Wednesday night, Pataula Charter beat Calhoun County 17-1, with Shelby Weiss pitching a three-inning no-hitter.

Deerfield-Windsor was to start its softball season Thursday at Tiftarea.

Volleyball season began Saturday, with Lee County hosting round-robin competition. The Trojans host Mary Persons and Colquitt County on Tuesday.

Cross country teams getting ready

Cross country season is about to begin, with Deerfield-Windsor (Zack Wansley Cross Country Class in Douglasville), Lee County (Midstate Cross County Classic in Perry) and Westover (also in the Midstate Classic) among the teams taking part in meets Aug. 18, according to milesplit.com.

A week later, on Aug. 25, Furlow Charter hosts its Fast Feet Invitational in Americus, with several area schools scheduled to compete. The Lee County Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 6, while Southland is scheduled to host meets Sept 15 and Sept. 29.

The Deerfield-Windsor Invitational is scheduled for Sept. 22, while Baconton Charter has a meet scheduled for Oct. 4. The Westover Invitational is scheduled for Oct. 13.

The GISA Region 3-3A meet takes place Oct. 20, with the GISA championship meet scheduled for Oct. 27, also in Americus.