CHULA — Tiftarea Academy and head coach Erik Soliday have only a month ahead of them before the football schedule gets serious.

The Panthers host Southwest Georgia Academy in a scrimmage Aug. 12, then get more serious with the debut of the regular season. There, the schedule mostly consists of familiar opponents, but there is one new arrival: Wilcox County.

The Patriots make the trip to Chula on Sept. 16 and will be the second Georgia High School Association football team Tiftarea has seen in recent years. They had played Charlton County for the last two seasons and previously had a game against Lanier County.

Wilcox will present a big challenge to the Panthers. They went 10-4 in 2021, advancing all the way to the Class A (public) semifinals, where they fell by two touchdowns to Irwin County. The Patriots are 28-10 during Rob Stowe’s time at the helm in Rochelle.

Returning to the slate after absences are Westfield and Deerfield-Windsor.

Deerfield-Windsor, who additionally returns to Tiftarea’s region — now called districts after the GISA’s athletic transition to the GIAA — after two years in the GHSA. The Knights will be especially hungry to make it up against their old rivals after winning five games over the past two years.

Tiftarea and Deerfield-Windsor had played annually from 2010-19 before the Knights’ departure. Though the Knights hold a decisive advantage in the series (21-4-1), Tiftarea has had their number recently. The Panthers did not just win the 2018 and 2019 clashes, but did so easily, 42-7 in the former season and 35-0 in 2019.

Westfield and Tiftarea last met in 2019, a meeting that saw Soliday’s crew dominate 56-0. They had been one of two replacement games the Panthers needed after commitments with other schools fizzled out. Before 2019, they had been semi-regular opponents, with 14 games between 1988-2017. The Panthers have won the last three, but that won’t be as easy this time around. The Hornets have reorganized and have advanced to the AAA semifinals the last two seasons.

Central Fellowship and Tiftarea met in 2021 at the Panther Pit. In 2022, the Panthers are going somewhere they haven’t gone since 2005, to the Lancers’ field, which is in the shadows of Macon’s

airport. (The school’s original name was Cochran Field, also the original name of Middle Georgia Regional Airport.)

Bulloch Academy and Frederica Academy have been regular non-region opponents for some time for the Panthers. They have won three of the last four against Frederica, including last year’s state tournament game by forfeit. Tiftarea won against Bulloch in 2021 but fell the last time they were in Statesboro.

Terrell is back in Tiftarea’s region for the first time since 2015. With an influx of fresh players on its roster, the Eagles won last year, breaking an eight-game Panthers winning streak.

Soliday has split his games against Southland Academy, another district opponent, but has won three of four from Valwood, including in last year’s monsoon in Mineola. Brookwood has arguably been his most frustrating opponent. Soliday is 2-2 against them, though the Warriors have won the last two seasons by a combined eight points.