Four high school football teams from Covington County kick off the 2002 season Friday night.

BULLDOGS HOST TROJANS

The 2002 high school football season begins on Friday for the Andalusia Bulldogs against the Charles Henderson Trojans of Troy. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Andalusia Head Coach Paul Woolley said the Trojans are not a "Trojan horse." This year's Charles Henderson squad isn't going to sneak up on anybody.

"They have 11 starters back on offense and 11 starters back on defense," Woolley said. "They were 8-2 in the regular season last year."

The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-5 season and have spent the last three days honing their skills for the season-opener.

"We've had three good practices and we're ready to play," Woolley said after Wednesday's practice session. "We've practiced enough and been through some adversity.

"We're ready to play," he repeated. "But, if we had our choice we'd pick someone other than Troy to play Friday night."

The Trojans, however, are the opponent and Woolley said the Bulldogs' gameplan is simple.

"We have to move the ball against their defense to keep their offense off the field," Woolley said. "That's just the key to the whole game."

RED LEVEL TIGERS VISIT FLORALA

A cross-county showdown between the Florala Wildcats and Red Level Tigers will start the 2002 season for both squads at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in Florala's Mathews Stadium.

The Wildcats enter the game one week after a good showing at a jamboree under the direction of first-year head coach Doug Vickery.

Vickery is excited about the season and the way his team played in the jamboree.

Now, Vickery's goal is to get the Wildcats in a position to have a shot to win in the fourth quarter of each game this season.

He will get his first chance against the hungry Red Level Tigers on Friday.

Red Level Head Coach Tim Grimes said he expects the Wildcats to be ready to compete.

"They're going to be tough," Grimes said. "They're fired up."

He said his own team has been beating each other up in practice.

"We've been banging on each other and now we are trying to get back healthy before Friday," Grimes said.

The Tigers worked out under the lights on Monday and Grimes said they looked better than advertised.

"We looked better than I though we would, but we still have a long way to go," Grimes said. "We have a young football team. We're as green as grass."

BOBCATS TRAVEL TO LUVERNE

The Opp Bobcats head to Luverne on Friday to kick off the 2002 season against the Luverne Tigers.

The game should be a cat fight as the Bobcats look to pounce early and start the season on a positive note.

"We're ready to start hitting somebody else," Opp Head Coach Jeff Rhodes said at Wednesday's practice. "We're tired of hitting each other for the past five weeks."

Rhodes said the key for the Bobcats is to stay healthy with Scott Phillips out with a broken arm and former starter Mariel Mount waiting to get medical clearance to play.

Luverne enters the game with a little bit different look.

"Luverne has lost their four-year starter at quarterback," Rhodes explained. "But, they're all well coached and they have athletes."

"We're going to try and run the ball and pass a little here and there," Rhodes said.