"I don’t like to lose, and that isn’t so much because it is just a football game, but because defeat means the failure to reach your objective. I don’t want a football player who doesn’t take defeat to heart, who laughs it off with the thought, ‘Oh, well, there’s another Saturday.’ The trouble in American life today, in business as well as in sports, is that too many people are afraid of competition. The result is that in some circles people have come to sneer at success if it costs hard work and training and sacrifice."

-Knute Kenneth Rockne

Fall is an exciting and refreshing time of year. It doesn’t feel like fall yet, with the temperatures still above normal, but if you look really hard, you can actually see some of the trees starting to gain color ever so slightly.

One sure sign that fall is knocking at our door is the start of football season. Tonight, Alcovy and Eastside start the season with a 7:30 game at Sharp Stadium. Newton starts Saturday with a game against Shiloh.

All three of our local high school teams provided us with plenty of fun and excitement last year, and this year, all three have been realigned to tougher divisions.

We have confidence in the abilities of coaches Kirk Hoffman from Alcovy, Cortez Allen from Newton and the Dean of the local coaches Rick Hurst from Eastside

We listened to all three talk about their teams and the upcoming year this past Tuesday at the annual Rotary luncheon honoring the start of football season.

Coach Hoffman said he has a young team, but it is talented, coach Allen told us his team is experienced and Coach Hurst played his usual possum, which means he must have a good team this year.

We wish all of our teams the best. Your athletic skill and the character you will show in playing bring honor not only to yourselves but to all of us who live in Newton County.

Go teams! Go fight to be the very best you can, we are all behind you.