Practice No. 1 puts in motion a process that will see many teams dart through drills the next few weeks in hopes that they can quickly shore up any lingering concerns before the official season opens up later this month.
As for Bartow County teams, Cartersville and Woodland have about 10 days of practice time before their annual jamboree matchup Aug. 12 at Wildcat Stadium. The two sides will then have a couple of weeks to get ready for their season openers, both of which are on the road.
The Wildcats face cross-county rival Cass, which won last year's battle 42-12, while the Purple Hurricanes head to Lindale for a rematch with a longtime rival, Pepperell, whom they pushed past, 14-10, a season ago.
Bartow's remaining two teams, the aforementioned Colonels as well as Adairsville, scrimmage each other on Aug. 19 in Tiger Valley, giving each team a tad longer to tinker with its game plan before hitting the field against an actual opponent.
When the two teams play in a game that counts, Cass will look to start off the season with a win in its new stadium while Adairsville hosts Ridgeland looking to avenge last year's 30-19 loss.