By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

We’ve reached the end of the road. The last outpost. The final crescendo in what has been a monthlong symphony of predictions, postulations and predilections about county football. After this, all that is left is to actually go and play some football.

Shelby County has a representative in each classification of AISA football with Cornerstone in the A-classification, Coosa Valley in AA and Kingwood in AAA. Two of these three programs have been marred by change in recent years, and will once again have first-year head coaches, while the other has become known for its consistency at the head-coaching slot. All three will have interesting journeys in 2015.

Predicting what will happen in AISA football can be tough, because the rosters are prone to change a good bit throughout the summer and leading up to the start of the season. It’s very likely that between now and when the season starts, one or all of these teams will pick up some kids or lose a couple who will affect their season outlook, but we’re going to work with what he have.

Cornerstone has only had one coach in the program’s existence, and he is back once again to stalk the sidelines for the Chargers. Tim Smith is entering his 16^th season as Cornerstone’s head coach, and this season will be like many before it, where Smith will have to integrate new talent into his system in a hurry after losing nine seniors off of a 28-man roster. No place will this integration be more obvious than at quarterback, where Smith is tasked with helping Tyler NcNamee, a junior who has never played football before, to pick up the position in a hurry. McNamee’s development will be one of the main focal points for this Chargers team.

Coosa Valley will see its sixth head coach in the last eight seasons this year when Steve McCord takes the sidelines. McCord most recently was the head coach at Chilton County High School before retiring, and has come out of retirement to man the helm for the Rebels. He is undertaking a difficult task, with only four seniors returning from a team that finished last season with the worst record in school history at 0-9, the road is going to be long, and potentially very hazardous in Harpersville this season. Senior quarterback Walker Jones and senior receiver-turned-running back Easton Hopkins will be charged with helping the Rebels bounce back from last season.

In AAA, Kingwood welcomes in Sheldon Ward as the fourth coach the program has seen since 2010. The Lions lose a big senior class, with the likes of EJ Gant, Gage Sumrall and Josef Ransom all gone and a few others lost to transfer. Mitchell Carter, a converted tight end, will play quarterback this season for Kingwood, and has a big enough frame (6-feet-3-inches tall, 190 pounds), to handle pressure. The Lions will be a primarily run-based offense, and Carter can move well enough from the pocket to be effective in the run game as well.

On the defensive side of the ball, Kingwood will turn to Hunter Lodge, a rising senior and returning starter at middle linebacker, to handle the responsibility of conducting the defense.

Way-too-early predictions: Coosa Valley is in for another tough season, and the Rebels will not get close to the playoffs. Cornerstone will be in a tough spot, as breaking in a new quarterback is always a precursor for a difficult season, and the Chargers will likely end up in the 4-5 win area again. Kingwood finished 4-6 a season ago, but finished 0-5 in conference play. The Lions will be better than that 0-5 mark this season, but Ward will need some time to get this program the way he wants it, and Kingwood will miss the AISA playoffs for the second year in a row.