17 States Begin High School Football Practice This Week

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

The 2010 continues to heat-up with Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming all beginning two-a-day today or sometime before Sunday.

I'm working on releasing plenty of great original content that will be released throughout the week.

On Wednesday, I'll be announcing High School Football America's season-long series on a tiny high school in northeast Pennsylvania with an enrollment of 280 students.

I'll also be releasing my first daily podcast later this week.  Our first guest will be Jamie DeMoney of PrepNation.com, which has been ranking high school football teams since 1987.  I'll talk with Jamie about his 2010 Preseason National Prep Poll, plus find-out what goes into creating a national high school football poll.

Non-Contact Drills Begin in Kentucky

by Jeff Fisher
The High School Football Huddle

Full contact drills don't begin until August 1st, but coaches in Kentucky are able to get down to the business of coaching today in the Bluegrass State. However, not all teams will be on the practice field today for non-contact workouts.

State officials want to make sure that before heading out into the summer heat, all coaches have completed training to comply with the state's new rules on heat-related training that were implemented last year after the heat-related death of Max Gilpin of Pleasure Ridge Park.

Two week's ago, the National Athletic Trainers' Association recommended that high school football teams should eliminate two-a-day practices in the first week of August. Kentucky High School Athletic Association rules prohibit teams from holding two-a-day workouts on consecutive days.

Click here to read about the National Athletic Trainers' Association recommendations.

The regular season begins August 21st in Kentucky.

Illinois High School Football Practice Underway

Pre-season high school football practice began today with schools throughout Illinois dreaming of claiming one of eight state football championships. The regular season begins August 29.

One of the most interesting stories this year will be whether Driscoll can win its 8th straight Illinois high school football championship. Driscoll owns a 35-game playoff win streak and returns nine starters from last year's 14-0 team.

Two of the best match-ups this year will occur in Week 2 when Driscoll (Class 4A) takes on 2007 5A runner-up Morris and 6A champ Joliet Catholic faces 2007 7A runner-up Wheaton Warrenville South.

Click here to go to the Illinois High School Football Huddle.

Pennsylvania Begins Practice

The Road to Hershey is underway in Pennsylvania as schools across the Keystone State are going through two-a-days in preparation for season openers on August 29th.

2007 Champs

AAAA - Pittsburgh Central Catholic
AAA - Thomas Jefferson
AA - Aliquippa
A - Steelton-Highspire

Click here for a story on Steel-High, which returns 18-starters from last year's Class A championship team.

Click here to go to the Pennsylvania High School Football Huddle.

Pads Popping in Utah

High school football practice is underway in Utah as team's prepare for opening night on August 22nd.

Below you'll find team previews from The Salt Lake Tribune. Just click on the school names to be taken to the stories. To be taken to the Utah High School Football Huddle, click here.

Bountiful Braves
Clearfield Falcons
Copper Hills Grizzlies
Hillcrest Huskies
Hunter Wolverines
Juan Diego Soaring Eagle
Kearns Cougars
Skyline Eagles
Taylorsville Warriors
Woods Cross Wildcats

Texas Two-A-Days

The heat continues in Texas as we head into Day 3 of high school football practice in the Lone Star State. Tuesday temperatures hit triple digits for the 12th straight day!

Here are some practice stories from around the state...

Click here for camp story for Brownsboro, which is coming off a 5-5 season last year.

Click here to check-out how things are going for first year head coach Jeff Cordell at Andrews.

Click here for a story on El Paso High School. Last year the Tigers struggled to a 2-8 mark.

Football or Basketball in the Hoosier State??

With high school football opening across the Hoosier State, the Indy Star took the time to look at whether high school football has surpassed high school basketball in popularity. Click here to read a story that suggests that the state that gave us Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson, may be more football than basketball crazy.

More States Hit The Practice Field

Practice began in four more states today as two-a-days began in Alabama, Indiana, Texas and West Virginia.

In the Lone Star State, excessive heat warnings greeted players. Forecast highs for the day were 107. Not all began practicing today in Texas as workouts were for Class 5A and 4A public schools that did not have spring practice, and Class 3A and lower schools. Class 5A and 4A schools that held spring practice must wait until next Monday.

Mississippi Dandy Dozen

The Clarion Ledger is Jackson, Mississippi unveiled its annual Dandy Dozen on Sunday. To make this list is pretty special, but it's not perfect just ask NFL running back Deuce McAllister, who didn't make the list. Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and Brett Favre also didn't make the list, but that's because the Dandy Dozen didn't exist when they were in high school.

Here's this year's list...

Josh Boyd - Philadelphia, DL
Chad Bumphis - Tupelo, WR
David Conner - South Panola, LB
Fletcher Cox - Yazoo City, DL
Chris Garrett - Tupelo, QB
Kendrick Hardy - Lawrence County, RB
Cameron Lawrence - Magnolia Heights, QB/DB
Clayton Moore - Louisville, QB
Pat Patterson - Noxubee County, WR
Tyler Russell - Meridian, QB
Dennis Thames - Louisville, RB/LB
Rod Woodson - Olive Branch, DB

To hear how the Dandy Dozen is picked from Clarion-Ledger sports editor Rusty Hampton, click here.

Ohio Two-A-Days

Two-a-days are going full speed in Ohio since camps opened on Thursday. The Buckeye State's first games will be played August 21st, and The High School Football Huddle will be with fans throughout the month providing previews here, plus at the Ohio High School Football Huddle.

To kickoff our Ohio coverage, here's a great video piece from The Plain Dealer on the start of practice at Lakewood High School.

High school football two-a-days begin

South Carolina High School Football Practice Begins

South Carolina high school football practice is underway, and to get you started, click here for the Charleston Post and Courier's high school football A to Z.

Trinity Hits the Practice Field Thinking About Kentucky Four-Peat

Trinity's (Louisville, KY) run for a fourth straight Kentucky Class 6-A title will rest on the right arm of senior quarterback Cameron Smyth, who has some big shoes to fill. Smyth and the Shamrocks hit the practice field this morning as practice began across the state of Kentucky.

Smyth takes over for Will Stein, who led the Shamrocks to the schools 18th over Kentucky high school football championship while throwning for 3,697 yards and 54 touchdowns. Head coach Bob Beatty also has to replace wide receiver twins Nathan and Alex Dutton, who were the team's top two pass catchers. On the good side, the other two starting receivers from last year's squad, Scott Radcliff and William Leach are back.

Trinity finished 13-2 in 2007 and ranked #23 in the final USA Today high school football rankings.

To read more about the outlook for 2008, please click here for a story from the Courier-Journal in Louisville.

To keep up with Kentucky high school football throughout the 2008 season, please go to the Kentucky High School Football Huddle

First Day of Practice in Georgia

Hot and humid weather welcomed teams to the practice fields around Georgia this morning for the first day of practice. After living two years in Atlanta, I know that football reigns supreme, and the fans love and want a winner!

That's why a story on head coaching changes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution caught my eye. There are 95 new head coaches this year, which equates to a 25-percent turnover rate.

To read the rest of the stats and the story, click here.