Can you hear it? Just listen closely enough and I’m sure it will come to you.

You’ll hear the sounds of shoulder pads popping and whistles blowing. Yep, it’s that time again. High school football season has arrived.

After spending a long, hot summer running, lifting weights and attending football camps and clinics, the Miss-Lou’s high school football teams have finally strapped on the shoulder pads and started fall practice.

Mississippi schools have been practicing in pads for a few days now, while Louisiana schools will begin practicing in pads on Monday after spending last week in shorts and t-shirts.

Fans will get a taste of the season Friday when Natchez High School hosts several local teams, including Cathedral, Trinity Episcopal and Wilkinson County, in a jamboree.

The regular season will then begin the following week for Mississippi schools. Louisiana schools will have to wait until Sept. 5 to get their seasons started.

This time of year is a favorite for many people, as the anticipation of a new season is high and so are the hopes of each team.

Everybody is undefeated right now and each coach and player thinks this is the year that their team will reach all of their goals.

For some schools, those goals including going deep in the playoffs, or even winning a state championship. For others, a winning season would suffice and still for others, just picking up a few wins and showing improvement over last year will be considered a good season.

The Miss-Lou is fortunate to have several area teams that should compete for district and state championships during the season.

Centreville has won two consecutive MPSA Class AA state titles and is gunning for a third in a row. That is not out of the realm of possibility as they return many of the players who made the championship happen last season.

Trinity is another school that is expected to contend for a state title. The Saints went a combined 23-3 in their two years in Class AA, and now drop down into Class A, where they won the state championship in 2006.

The Saints also return several key players from last year’s team that went 11-2.

Natchez High enjoyed some playoff success last year, and hope to keep that momentum going in 2009. However, they lost some key players from last year and coach Lance Reed will have to get the most out of the players they have in order to repeat last year’s success.

Other teams that have a strong football tradition and are always looking to go deep in the playoffs are Franklin County and Ferriday.

So let the anticipation continue to build. Only five more days until teams are competing against each other on the football field and only 12 more days until those games count.

Until then, just try to stay patient. I know it’s gong to be hard, but you can do it.

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor for The Democrat. He can be reached at sports@natchezdemocrat.com.