The Florala Wildcats are ready to take the field on Friday night as they open the 2018 football season at home against St. Michael Catholic.

“It’s been wet every day,” Florala head coach Scott Mason. “We had a great week of practice last week. I was pleased, but if we could just dodge the rain it would be better.”

This week, the Wildcats open up the season with St. Michael Catholic who is entering their first season as an official AHSAA member.

“This week is going to be about execution,” Mason said. “They are a private school so they were able to add a lot of players that weren’t on the team last year when we played them. As long as we have 11 guys doing their jobs, we should be fine.”

The Wildcats return nearly every player from last year’s team and they have added new wrinkles to the offense.

“We are going to open it up this year,” Mason said. “This year, we have added several things that we couldn’t do last year. Last year, we just didn’t have the foundation to do some of the things that we are going to do this year. Jacob (Hammac) has made miles of progress. I’ve even turned some of the audible calls over to him because he is able to recognize coverages at the line.”

As they close in on the first game, Mason said he hopes to see his team turn it up a notch.

“I want to see a lot of intensity this week at practice,” Mason said. “There is a completely different feel this year. Last year, they looked at me like I was from Mars. They didn’t understand the game and they didn’t undertand what it takes to win. They have a come so far since last year. Instead of trying to win, we expect to win this year. We’ve come a long way, but we still have ways to go to be where we want to be. I want to see us turn it up a notch. If we want to be contenders, we have to start acting like one.”

Florala and St. Michael will begin at 7 p.m., on Friday in Florala.