NATCHEZ &045; Here it is with all this cool weather, and people can’t believe it’s time to start playing football.

So does it still not feel right?

Regardless, MPSA member schools in the Miss-Lou will start today in the Trinity Episcopal jamboree beginning at 6 p.m. Trinity, Adams Christian, Huntington and Brookhaven Academy will compete in the jamboree at Trinity in a tuneup before the start of the regular season next week.

Adams Christian will face Brookhaven at 6 p.m., followed by Trinity and Huntington. After a halftime period, each pairs will face each other again in the same order as each contest will consist of 12 minutes.

&uot;The weather has been real cooperative,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;It’s almost too good for this time in Natchez, Mississippi. That’s been good. We’re looking forward to it. It’s the only time we’re going to see Huntington, and we’ve played them forever. It’s going to be a great night.&uot;

More importantly, it’s the first contact against someone that’s not a teammate for all four teams tonight. Schools in the MPSA began practices July 26 &045; one week before schools in the MHSAA and two weeks prior to schools in Louisiana &045; in order to get jamboree contests in today.

&uot;We’ve practiced 22 times now, and I’d imagine they’re about tired of practicing,&uot; Adams head coach Keith Walters said. &uot;They’d like to see a new face out there. They’re ready to play. It’s time to go out there and see what we look like.&uot;

It’s been the same way with the Hounds, who have gone just as long with their new coaching staff and a group of players returning from last year. It’s former AC head coach Bo Swilley now as head coach at Huntington, and he has former AC standout Tim Baker on staff.

The jamboree format keeps all four teams from matching up against someone they will see in the regular season &045; Huntington will face Adams Christian Sept. 3, Trinity Episcopal will face Brookhaven Oct. 22 and that much-anticipated AC-Trinity matchup will be in two weeks on Aug. 27.

&uot;Everybody is ready to get it started,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;I think we’re better than we were at this time last year, but I won’t know anything until tomorrow night.&uot;

The matchups will be the first time coaches can really evaluate players and how they perform. And it’s the first test to see how far teams have come in identifying areas that need improvement.

The Rebels will go with Timmy Foster at quarterback to start off and have Dustin Case at tailback. Foster got cleared last week to play following surgery and will likely split time with Case at quarterback in both sessions.

It’s the first action since last season for running back/defensive back Cole Bradford. The Rebels also have David Trisler and Joey Wilson cleared to play as well.

But that’s not the entire focus of today’s jamboree. Coaches will be paying close attention to what improvements are made on the other side of the ball, just as they did last week in a home scrimmage against Briarfield.

&uot;One thing since Day 1 is to get better defensively than we’ve been in years,&uot; Walters said. &uot;We did better against Briarfield, but Brookhaven will be a step up and Centreville (Aug. 19) will be a huge step up from that. I’m interested in seeing how we play defensively. We’ve been good enough in the past offensively but not defensively. We’ll see.&uot;

As for the Saints, tonight’s sessions will be a measly appetizer for the regular season that they wouldn’t wish on their worst enemies. The offense is not in any way ready to go out and play four quarters of solid football, and depth is a factor there with 16 players out.

But things could get interesting with the skill positions &045; Zack Rogel at quarterback and Stevan Ridley at tailback.

&uot;We’ve really been trying to identify ourselves as to what we’re going to do,&uot; King said. &uot;We’ve got so many new kids, and our line is so young. Zack is throwing the ball awfully well, but we don’t know if the line will hold up. Defense is what we’re going to have to do. We’re going to have to stop people.&uot;

With Huntington, the new staff has spirits high with a Hounds team that struggled the past two seasons. Swilley and his staff, too, are nowhere near having everything in for a full contest and will try basic sets in both sessions tonight.

&uot;I think Tim and (assistant) Shane (Martin) bring a lot of energy, and it’s rubbed off on the players,&uot; Swilley said. &uot;It allows me to focus on other things &045; where the program is headed and making sure the personalities are all where they need to be. You can’t coach every player the same.

&uot;We’re still pretty basic. We have a couple in, but I have other things I want to do later.&uot;