The football countdown usually begins around the first of June.

That’s about the time that all of the schools get out for the summer and most sports, save for Major League Baseball, have completed their seasons.

It’s been a long, hot summer of waiting, but the football season is finally upon us.

The high school season began Friday when the Mississippi Private School Association kicked off its games. The Mississippi High School Activities Association will begin its season on Friday with the Louisiana public schools beginning their season on Sept. 5.

It felt nice to be standing on a sideline Friday night when I took the short drive over to Woodville to cover Wilkinson County Christian taking on Adams Christian.

You could definitely tell it was a season-opening game by the numerous penalties, turnovers and leg cramps, but that hardly mattered.

It felt good just seeing a live football game again after a long, hot summer spent watching soccer, the X-Games and competitive eating competitions on television.

I’m looking forward to many more games next Friday night, which means a much more hectic newsroom.

Everyone but Vidalia, Ferriday and Block will be in action. There are some good rivalries that will open the season, including Trinity at ACCS, Natchez at Jefferson County and WCCA at Huntington.

While the high school season will be kicking into high gear, the college season will be cranking up as well.

The college season begins Thursday night with a few games and then starts en masse Saturday afternoon.

Featured games Saturday include defending Division 1-AA (I refuse to say championship subdivision) champion Appalachian State taking on defending BCS champion LSU in Tiger Stadium.

That game begins at 4 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

Another big game that people in this area will be watching is Mississippi State traveling to take on Louisiana Tech in Ruston, La.

It is the first time that an SEC team has played Louisiana Tech in Ruston since 1917, and the school is expecting a sellout.

That game kicks off at 5:45 and will be televised by ESPN2.

Other games of note include Ole Miss hosting Memphis and Southern Miss hosting Louisiana-Lafayette.

Both of those games will begin at 6 p.m. and neither of them will be televised.

It’s only the beginning to what should be a great year of both high school and college football.

So good luck to all the area teams as they begin the quest to fulfill their goals, whatever they might be.

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor for The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3632 or jeff.edwards@natchezdemocrat.com