Looking forward to a full-house weekend of high school footballand reflecting on the season ahead. Rejoice! It’s supposed to be afew degrees cooler Friday night.

In the earliest season opener on record, many MHSAA members begantheir 2010 campaigns with a Classic game last Friday night. It wasawfully hot; too hot to play football.

Standing on the sidelines in Meadville, there was no hint of abreeze as the angry summer sun slowly slipped beneath the horizon.Under MHSAA guidelines, games have been pushed back 30 minutes to7:30 in an effort to help players cope with the high heat andhumidity.

If you ask me, the games could have started at 8:30 and it stillwould have been too hot. Standing almost motionless on thesidelines and breathing deeply, droplets of sweat ran down my legs.I reached for my trusty canteen and gulped water with gusto.

After watching Franklin County destroy Loyd Star 62-7, there werecoaches and players to be interviewed. Finally, almost four hoursafter our arrival in Louie Mullins Memorial Stadium, the old scribewearily climbed into his pickup truck. The digital thermometer inthe cab of my Dodge truck read 81 degrees, outsidetemperature.

More water, please.

Players should be commended for their high level of physicaltraining. Believe it or not, there were few cramps. Those almostdaily workouts since the first of June had rewarded coaches andplayers. They were in peak condition.

For sure, Franklin County’s Bulldogs made a statement. They avengedlast year’s 12-0 loss to Loyd Star. The next revenge match istomorrow night against the Brookhaven Panthers. There should be anoverflow crowd for this one in Mullins Stadium.

Another large crowd will gather at Bogue Chitto’s Troy Smith FieldFriday night to watch the Bobcats battle the Enterprise YellowJackets. Bogue Chitto surprised a lot of folks last Friday, beatingMadison St. Joseph 34-24 on the road.

Sports historian Mickey Myers of Bogue Chitto stopped by the officeTuesday afternoon. He was researching information on theEnterprise-Bogue Chitto series. Both schools began varsitycompetition in 1964 but the first official meeting of the varsityteams is debatable.

Records are sketchy at best. Back in the early days, Bogue Chittobelonged to the Confederate Conference and Enterprise was aMid-South Conference member. From what Myers and yours truly coulddetermine, the Bobcats didn’t play each other from 1964-68. Wesearched through some old, bound volumes of the Leader-Advertiserwithout much success.

Anyone with accurate, concrete information on the series is welcometo give us a call at 601-833-6961 or e-mailsports@dailyleader.com

Meanwhile, Professor Hoopla B.S. cut the telephone lines to hishumble abode in an effort to avoid irate readers who were angeredby his fearless predictions. He delights in predicting the outcomesof high school football games. Folks often forget…it’s just agame.

Hoopla predicted the winners of 11 games and got eight right.Here’s a preview of Friday night’s winners.

Brookhaven at Franklin County: It promises to a bean explosive battle in Meadville with lots of offense and points.Brookhaven 29-21.

Copiah Academy at Brookhaven Academy: Cougarsshowcase their offensive firepower on R.M. “Red” Stuard Field asthey battle their archrivals from Gallman. Brookhaven Academy38-18.

Enterprise at Bogue Chitto: Speed and power greetthe Yellow Jackets as they make their season debut in Bobcatterritory. Bogue Chitto 28-12.

Natchez Cathedral at Loyd Star: Picking up thepieces after their lopsided loss at Meadville, the Hornets find thewinning combination. Loyd Star 34-19.

Richland at Wesson: Rangers were massacred byNorth Pike last week so they should be better prepared for theCobras. It won’t help much. Wesson 33-9.

Warren Central at Lawrence County: Cougars bracefor a Viking invasion as they make their home debut. Warren Central28-16.

Bay St. Louis at North Pike: Jaguars have theopportunity to make some noise against a strong opponent. NorthPike 26-12.

South Pike at McComb: Fired-up Tigers spoil thedebut of Eagle head coach Willie Brown. McComb 31-18.

In other area action, Morton over Hazlehurst 28-26; Ocean Springsover Tylertown 42-12; Lanier over Crystal Springs 22-8 andCentreville Academy over Parklane Academy 21-10. West Lincoln andJefferson County enjoy open dates.

Write to sports editor Tom Goetz, c/o The DAILY LEADER, P.O. BOX551, Brookhaven, MS 39602 or e-mail sports@dailyleader.com