Ready for some football, high school style

Sixteen days and counting until the bands play and the teams take the field.

The 2007 high school football season got under way on Monday with the first official day of practice.

Excitement reigned at Iredell County's six schools. Everybody is unbeaten. The possibilities are endless.

Some thoughts:

1.) I don't think South Iredell will have the kind of dropoff a lot of people think the Vikings will have this season after losing their coach and starting quarterback following a remarkable run in 2006. Last year, the Vikings went 8-6 and reached the third round of the 2AA state playoffs -- the farthest South Iredell had ever advanced in the postseason. South Iredell returns a lot of talent at the skill positions and its linemen are bigger. New coach Ed Masterton seems to have installed a fun-looking offense, so don't sleep on the Vikings.

2.) Can't wait to see what West Iredell running back Bobby Morrison has in store for an encore. Morrison set school records for points in a season (190) and rushing touchdowns (25) in 2006. It's no coincidence that the Warriors posted the second-best regular-season record (9-2) in school history.

3.) Don't be surprised if you see Statesville make a dramatic improvement. Coming off a winless 2005 campaign, the Greyhounds went 2-9 in 2006, Randall Gusler's first season. They were competitive in many of their losses. I look for Statesville to win at least five games this year. Maybe six or seven to creep over .500 for the first time since 2003.