It’s hard to believe that football begins this week.

Friday night is the first game of the season for both Hartselle and Falkville. The other teams will begin their season a week later after playing jamborees.

This year, we have a number of interesting story lines affecting our five local teams.

Hartselle is hungry to get back on the field after an early exit from the playoffs in 2013. This year’s Tigers will be much more experienced and should offer a little more firepower than last. The season is going to be tough just because of the schedule. If they can stay healthy, the Tigers should have a chance to make the playoffs once again.

At Falkville, the Blue Devils are looking to build on last year’s season, which is one of the best seasons ever. The team lost a lot of seniors last year, but they aren’t making excuses. They fully expect to compete and make the playoffs again.

At Danville, the Hawks are rebuilding. They have a new coach that took over just days before practice began a couple of weeks ago. And to compound that, they moved up to Class 4A.

Look for the Hawks to make progress by the end of the season.

At Priceville, the Bulldogs play some of the toughest teams in Class 4A, but they have a chance. Can Priceville find a way to break through and make the playoffs?

At Brewer, the Patriots are still improving under third year coach Dan Styles. The Patriots were much improved last year, but Brewer now moves up to Class 6A. They caught a break by being in Region 7 instead of Hartselle’s Region 8.

Right now, this is the best time of the year for everyone. Everyone is undefeated and hope springs eternal for the new season. How will our teams do? Stay tuned and find out.

Brent Maze is the managing editor of the Hartselle Enquirer.