Are you ready for football season?

&8220;The thrill of the grass&8221; is an old expression used by sports writers and novelists to describe that sensation created by the smell of fresh cut grass on a football field, baseball diamond or other such fields of sport.

I have enjoyed that feeling often over the years covering and attending various sporting events. But with me, it is mostly associated with football.

Although there have already been hints of football in the air with seven-on-seven camps and media days for both college and high school football teams this summer, Monday, Aug. 7 marked the first official day of football practice. And Aug. 31 will mark the first official day of football season.

And to be honest, I just can&8217;t wait to begin pacing the sidelines once again covering high school football action in Shelby County, taking or at least seeing the photos from the games, seeing the reaction of the kids and their performances on the field.

There is something about those white lines and yardline numbers against a sea of green grass, the twinkle of the scoreboard lights, the smell of hotdogs and popcorn in the air.

The Calera Eagles, Vincent Yellow Jackets, Chelsea Hornets, Montevallo Bulldogs, Briarwood Christian Lions, Shelby County Wildcats, Oak Mountain Eagles, Pelham Panthers, Spain Park Jaguars, Thompson Warriors, Coosa Valley Rebels, Cornerstone Chargers, Kingwood Lions, Shelby Academy Raiders, Evangel Christian Lightning and Hope Christian will all draw their crowds this season.

And in addition to veteran coaches of Shelby County football like Brett Burnett of Pelham, Jerry Hood of Oak Mountain, Dewayne Kervin of Shelby Academy, Jim King of Montevallo, Brian Maner of Thompson, Tim Smith of Cornerstone, Dwight Spradley of Vincent, Jerry Stearns of Kingwood and Fred Yancy of Briarwood, there will be some new faces at the helm of some teams.

Among the new faces at the helm of football teams will be Ryan Herring at Shelby County, John Gross at Spain Park, Stephen Mackin at Coosa Valley, Mack Thompson at Calera and Wade Waldrop at Chelsea.

It should be a great season