Alaska High School Football Two-A-Days

Alaska high school football teams have 11-days to get ready before season openers Friday, August 8th. The High School Football Huddle spent the day combing the Alaska newspapers looking for stories to get our fans.

One story is about 27-year Ben Johnson, who is taking over the reigns at West Valley. Click here to read a story about Johnson's first day on the job from the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

If you want more info from Alaska, please click here to check-out the Alaska High School Football Huddle.

Practice Opens in Tennessee

Tennessee is one of the few states that gives high school football teams almost a full month to get ready for the regular season that begins on Friday, August 22th. Practice began yesterday across the Volunteer State, and The High School Football Huddle has plenty of stories to share with you.

After four straight Class 4A state titles and plenty of appearances in national football rankings, everyone knows about the Maryville Rebels. Maryville needs to find a quarterback during fall camp. Head coach Georges Quarles will be working out four players for the starting QB spot.

There's another four-time defending champ in Blount County that you should also know about. Alcoa has won four straight Class 2A championships. Alcoa will be young with only 13 seniors on the roster of 75 players in camp.

To read about these two teams from The Daily Times in Maryville, click here.

Maryville claim to the best team in the state will be challenged by Brentwood Academy this year. Brentwood has 16 starters back from last year's team that runner-up in II-AA last season with an 11-2 record.

To read about the Eagles' first day of practice from the Tennessean, click here.

State-by-State...First Day of High School Football Practice

Lots of questions today about when states begin their first day of high school football practice. As I mentioned on Sunday, Alaska, Tennessee and Virginia began practicing today, so to get you up-to-speed on the other states, I've listed them below...although I'm still missing a few, but I will update.

Jeff

Alabama – August 4
Alaska – July 28
Arizona
Arkansas – August 7
California –
Colorado – August 11
Connecticut – August 23
Delaware -
Florida – August 9
Georgia – August 1
Hawaii –
Idaho – August 11
Illinois – August 13
Indiana - August 4
Iowa – August 11
Kansas –
Kentucky – August 1
Louisiana – August 11
Maine – August 18
Maryland – August 16
Massachusetts – August 18
Michigan – August 11
Minnesota – August 11
Mississippi –
Missouri – August 11
Montana – August 15
Nebraska – August 11
Nevada – August 14
New Hampshire – August 13
New Jersey
New Mexico – August 11
New York
North Carolina – July 30
North Dakota – August 13
Ohio – July 31
Oklahoma – August 12
Oregon – August 18
Pennsylvania – August 11
Rhode Island
South Carolina – August 1
South Dakota – August 18
Tennessee – July 28
Texas – August 4
Utah – August 11
Vermont – August 11
Virginia – July 28
Washington – August 15
Washington, DC
West Virginia – August 4
Wisconsin – August 11
Wyoming – August 18

Georgia High School Football Schedules

Practice in Georgia gets underway on Friday. For the five days, teams will only be allowed to workout in shorts, shoulder pads and helmets. The first day in full pads will be August 6th.

The season will open-up on August 22nd with the the Corky Kell Classic at the Georgia Dome. For a look at every schedule around the state from the Georgia High School Association, click here.

And, to get Georgia fans jacked-up, here's what the Atlanta Journal Constitution thinks the paper's pre-season rankings will look like when they officially come out on August 18th. It was compiled by AJC writer Todd Holcomb, but in no way should be considered OFFICIAL!

Class AAAAA
1. Lowndes
2. Northside-Warner Robins
3. Camden County
4. North Gwinnett
5. M.L. King
6. Walton
7. Grayson
8. Norcross
9. Valdosta
10. Newnan

Class AAAA
1. Ware County
2. Tucker
3. Bainbridge
4. Thomas County Central
5. Rome
6. Chamblee
7. Whitewater
8. Habersham Central
9. Banneker
10. Marist

Class AAA
1. Carver-Columbus (11 starters returning)
2. Cairo (16)
3. Shaw
4. North Hall (9)
5. LaGrange
6. Perry
7. Stephens County
8. St. Pius
9. Carrollton
10. Baldwin

Class AA
1. Buford (5)
2. Charlton County
3. Dublin (12)
4. Lovett (11)
5. Calhoun
6. Thomasville
7. Fitzgerald
8. Cook (9)
9. Henry County
10. Westminster

Class A
1. ECI (11)
2. Lincoln County
3. Clinch County (12)
4. Wilcox County (10)
5. Athens Academy (13)
6. Dooly County
7. Brookstone
8. Savannah Christian
9. Washington-Wilkes
10. Wesleyan

We're Back!!!! Practice Begins in Alaska, Tennessee & Virginia

The wait is over and The High School Football is back...ready to give you everything you need to know about the 2008 high school football season. We'll have plenty of new things for you this year...more video, more audio and more stats!!

Practice begins Monday in Alaska, Tennessee and Virginia with other states following suit over the next couple of weeks. The first official games will be played in Alaska the week on August 8th and 9th.

If you have any suggestions that will make things better, please feel free to contact me at jeff@blitzgroupllc.com.

Here's looking forward to a great '08 season!!

Jeff Fisher

Red Beats Gold in McDonald's Lehigh Valley (PA) All-Star Football Classic

The best players in eastern Pennsylvania squared-off Thursday night in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in the 38th renewal of the McDonald's Lehigh Valley All-Star Football Classic.

Former Palisades High School quarterback Kyle Jensen tossed four touchdown passes to lead the Red team to a 27-21 win over the Gold squad.

To read a complete game wrap from the Morning Call, click here.

Do High School Football Players Shrink During Games?

Here's a different story from the American College of Sports Medicine. According to a report released last week in Indianapolis, players' height during games goes down do to disc compression. The research found players could lose up to a centimeter during the course of the game.

To read more about the report, click here.

Connecticut-Rhode Island Governor's Cup Rosters

The rosters have been announced for the 10th Annual Governor's Cup High School Football All-Star Game featuring the best from Connecticut taking on the stars from Rhode Island. The game will be played June 28th at Rentschler Field Field in East Hartford.

Connecticut, which has won five straight games, leads the series 6-3. Connecticut will be coached by Fitch-Groton's Jim Buonocore and Rhode Island will be led by Keith Kenyon of North Kingstown High.

Rhode Island, which lost last year's game 59-27, will be led by Gatorade Player of the Year quarterback Stanley Dunbar of St. Raphael's Academy. Dunbar is headed to the University of Rhode Island in the fall.

Connecticut will feature Stratford running back Torrey Mack, who's heading to Virginia and Yale-bound Alex Thomas of Ansonia.

Here are the rosters...

Connecticut All-Stars

Derek Williams, WR, Xavier; Torrey Mack, RB, Stratford; Josh Maignan, WR, Stamford; Nathan Pagan, RB, Newington; Jonathan Jackson, DB, Bunnell; Lorenzo Baker, DB, Middletown; Matt Coyne, QB, Bristol Central; Ryan Katon, QB, Xavier; Alfredo Frausto, K, Cromwell; Ziggy Bailey, DB, Windsor; Joshua Hudson, DB, New Britain; Mike Escobar, DB, Danbury; Rob Moir, QB, Seymour; Bobby Shepherd, K/P, Fitch; James Hodges, DB, Wethersfield; Jack Cooper, LB, Berlin; Jamal Gaston, DB, Fitch; Johrone Bunch, WR, Maloney; Israel Burgos, DB, Southington; Nathan Tyler, LB, Northwest Catholic; Octavias McKoy, Ath, Stratford; Jim Desautels, TE, East Catholic; Louis "B.J." Aponte, RB, New Britain; Geoff Schultz, LB, Shelton; Mike Easley, WR, Bunnell; Tim McNeil, RB, Ledyard; Mike D'Angelo, TE, Cromwell; Jaizz Nealy, LB, Bloomfield; Alex Thomas, RB, Ansonia; Mwamba Williams, LB, Windsor; Trevardo Williams, LB, Central; Julian Sanford, LB, Bloomfield; Hakeem Young, LB, Hartford Public; Matthew Delconte, OL, Berlin; Richard Perry, OL, Middletown; A.J. Tillman, OL, New London; Richard Boebel, DL, Bristol Eastern; Matt Walker, DL, Pomperaug; Earl Wilson, LB, New London; Mike Flynn, LB, Ansonia; Mike Mainiero, Shelton; Kyle Parrish, OL, Weaver; Keatric Redding-Hall, LB, Weaver; Kyle Duncan, OL, New Canaan; Benjamin Chapman, OL, Stonington; Rashaad Bass, DL, Ansonia; Dwayne Guscott, OL, Central; Bill Romaniello, DL, Masuk; Chris Willadsen, OL, South Windsor; Stanley Reshannon, DL, Weaver; Erik Matos, OL, West Haven; Efrain Rodriguez, WR, Hartford Public; Lorenzo Hemingway, WR, Capital Prep; Tristan Roberts, WR, Conard; Aaron Smith, LB, Hillhouse.

COACHES — Jim Buonocore, Fitch (head); Sean Marinan, Xavier; Bill Mella, Southington; Tom Brockett, Ansonia; Andy Guyon, Southington; Marc Romano, St. Bernard; Peter Cox, Central; Mark Condon, Xavier; Mike Tyler, Northwest Catholic; Roy Roberts, Bloomfield; John Ferazzi, Sheehan; Harry Bellucci, Hartford Public; Chris Fulton, Capital Prep.

Rhode Island All-Stars

Hershel Williams, RB, Shea; Jordan Monk, WR, St. Raphael; Josh Ponte, DB, South Kingstown; Stanley Dunbar, QB, St. Raphael; John Pedrotty, QB, Portsmouth; Hans Hall, DE, St. Raphael; Bryan Dewitt, RB, Rogers; Josh Perry, WR, South Kingstown; Rob Carbone, DB, Cranston West; Darren Williams, WR, Hendricken; Emmanuel Tutu, RB, Classical; Branford Sowah, RB, Bishop Hendricken; Alex Mendez, LB, Cranston West; Anthony Petrarca, WR, Warwick; Alex Loewenthal, DB Cranston West; Zak Gumkowski, LB, Cranston West; Roablas Lumpkins, DB, Mt. Pleasant; Ron Woodley, WR, East Providence; John Perrotti, DB, North Kingstown; Mark Laurito, LB, La Salle; Thomas Cole, LB, Classical; Joe Saunders, LB, Rogers; Howard Robinson, LB, Central; Dan Hayes, DE, St. Raphael; Geoff Gillson, DB, Cranston East; Tahj Eddington, RB, Juanita Sanchez; Brent Semple, DL, North Kingstown; Will Lopes, LB, St. Raphael; Matt Greenhalgh, OL, Ponaganset; Rob Maggiacomo, OL, LaSalle; Greg Dubee, OL South Kingstown; Bobby Booth, DT, Bishop Hendricken; Justin Rapp, LB, St. Raphael; Craig Argencourt, LB, St. Raphael; Brandon Sherratt, DL, St. Raphael; J.R. Whesu, DL, Classical; Tom Davis, LB, East Greenwich; Riley O'Brien, OL, North Kingstown; Jacob Burton, DL, East Providence; Patrick Onye, DL, Classical; Daniel Perkins, OL, Classical; Ray Bundy, OL, LaSalle; Ron Durfee, DL, Chariho; Ruben Gonzalez, RB, Central; Nick Rogrigues, TE, LaSalle; Josh Janes, DE, LaSalle; Jim Jaworski, DE, Bishop Hendricken; Neal Rooney, DE, LaSalle.

Coach: Keith Kenyon, North Kingstown (head); Tom Centore, Cranston East; Dick Fossa, Narragansett

To read more from the Hartford Courant, click here.