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For coaches, players and fans, its now for real
ec kickoff
Effingham County High School junior kicker Jackie Chen gets his foot into it during a Rebels practice. The season starts Friday as the Rebels travel to Burke County and South Effingham visits West Laurens. - photo by Photo by Pat Donahue

Four weeks of practice comes to an end Friday.

The high school football season kicks off Friday for the Effingham County Rebels and the South Effingham Mustangs, as the Rebels travel to Burke County to take on the Bears and the Mustangs visit West Laurens to battle the Raiders.

Preseason practices began Aug. 1, and teams went to full pads on Aug. 6, the first day of school.

Now, they’re ready to put their lessons from the last four weeks into action.

“It’s ‘for real’ week,” said South Effingham coach Greg Manior.

Both the Rebels and the Mustangs had preseason scrimmages, with Effingham going up against Tattnall County two weeks ago and South Effingham hosting Screven County last Friday. There was plenty to learn from watching the video of the sessions for both coaching staffs, and now one thing is clear to both.

“We’re kind of tired of beating on each other,” Rebels coach Jack Webb said. “The best thing is that it’s finally time to play. The tough thing about it is, where are we weak at, where are the areas we really need to work on.”

For updates on Friday's games, see the Effingham Herald’s new prep sports Web portal, sports.effinghamherald.net/prep-sports (or just click on Prep Sports above).