Editorial: Friday night football legacy continues

Published 10:00 am Friday, August 23, 2019

Tonight, the Tift County Blue Devils and the Tiftarea Academy Panthers take to the field in their respective first games of the football season.

Though it’s the first games of the new season, arguably the real start of the season was months ago when the first practices got underway.

That’s when the hard work of planning and preparing started, of strategizing and practice.

It’s something to think about tonight and every Friday night for the next few months.

Each throw, every catch, every kick, every tackle, every play: it’s all the result of months of hard work and practice, of sacrifice and commitment.

It’s the work of coaches and players, parents and teachers.

It’s a legacy that goes back for more than half a century.

Football has proven a rite of passage for high school players for generations in the region.

New players will be compared to older players.

Hard-fought victories will be seen in the light of previous hard-won contests.

Every touchdown will call to mind a touchdown from years ago.

Decades of stats from games with rival teams will be brought out.

And once this season is part of the history books, it’ll be talked about as well, becoming part of the linage, of the tradition that’s been handed down and will be handed down.

Here’s another part of that lineage: community support.

No team is complete without its fans, without the community rooting them on.

So take the time and make the time this season to catch a game.

Contribute to a school fundraiser.

Say a kind word to a player or coach on Sunday morning.

Support the cheerleaders and the marching band, who are integral to the atmosphere of these Friday night games.

And when those Friday night lights come up and our teams take the field, take a second to appreciate all that’s gone into this moment, this team and this season.