WEEK 1 LOOKAHEAD: Hamp Smith Classic, playoff rematch top opening slate

Mother Nature was none too kind to area teams trying to get in scrimmages last week.

Some of Friday night’s slate was cut short because of thunderstorms that rolled through the area. Lee County got one offensive series in at Tift County in before the lightning detector went off, while Pelham and Thomasville reached the midpoint of the first quarter before the weather turned.

Games begin to count this Friday, the first Friday of the high school football season across all three Georgia associations. Most of the Albany area will have games this week, the exceptions being Calhoun County (off), Deerfield-Windsor (scrimmage Friday at Miller County) and Southland (home scrimmage Thursday against Trinity Christian-Dublin).

Here’s a look at this week’s games (all 7:30 p.m. kickoffs Friday, unless noted):

The big one: Lee County vs. Dougherty, Hamp Smith Classic at Albany State Coliseum.

Lee County takes the field for the first time since winning the GHSA Class 6A title last December. Forty-one seniors graduated from that team, but Lee County’s 2018 roster already has two players committed to FBS programs and two more likely headed to power-five programs.

Dougherty, meanwhile, is seeing increased participation under first-year head coach Damien Gary. He said at Friday’s Exchange Club meeting that 85 players regularly took part in summer workouts, with that number reaching the 100 mark once school started.

The Hamp Smith Classic, named after the former Albany State head coach, is being conducted for the first time. Organizers hope to turn it into an annual showcase prior to the start of the college season, much like the Corky Kell Classic in Atlanta and the Macon Touchdown Club Kick-Off Classic at Mercer.

Second on the list: Macon County at Pelham.

These teams met in the second round of last year’s GHSA Class 1A-Public playoffs with Macon County prevailing 41-28 in Montezuma.

Pelham returns several players from last year’s team, including quarterback Kendrick Patterson, a junior who enters his third season as starter.

While Pelham completed a bit of its scrimmage Friday, Macon County’s scrimmage against Westside-Macon was completely washed out.

Another good one: Mitchell County at Brooks County.

Mitchell County, the GHSA Region 1-1A champion last year, travels to face a Brooks County team that reached the Class 2A semifinals last fall.

Like Pelham, Mitchell County returns a strong junior quarterback in James Thomas.

Also of note: The Dougherty County School District will have the rare situation of two games taking place in town Friday, as Monroe hosts Jordan at Hugh Mills Stadium … Olten Downs makes his debut as Westover’s head coach at Cook … Larry Harold begins his tenure as the Americus-Sumter head coach at Crisp County … The “Charter Bowl” takes place, with Baconton Charter heading to Edison to take on Pataula Charter in Richard Andrews’ debut as Pataula’s head coach … Jimbo Hale begins his tenure at Westwood by hosting Brookwood … Frankie Carroll leads Worth County into Turner County in his first game since assuming head coaching responsibilities.