It’s hard to believe we’re already back to that time of year again — football season.

Fellow scribes Jordan Holland, Kerry Patrick and Aaron Lee already have been out to make a few visits to their respective schools for the upcoming Pigskin Previews (Marietta Times, Aug. 22 and Parkersburg News and Sentinel, Aug. 29), but my first official trip will be Saturday when I make the trek to Reedsville to visit with the Eastern Eagles of third-year head coach Jason Jackson.

Although the Eagles have some holes to fill after their graduation losses, coach Jackson’s program once again will be out to make a deep run into the Ohio playoffs.

The Buckeye State begins its regular season a week before West Virginia.

Eastern opens in a little more than two weeks at River Valley and then welcomes in Wirt County for its home opener on the last Friday of the month.

The Tigers of head coach Jason Hickman, who is now in the sixth season of his second stint with the orange and black and 15th overall, admitted “we have 37 kids, so pretty good for us. Pleased with the numbers.”

Coach Jackson noted that Eastern has 107 boys in the school and 43 players are currently out to compete.

“Close to half the population of boys,” Jackson noted.

Wirt County, which will announce its upcoming Hall of Fame class this weekend, definitely could’ve picked an easier season opener, but the Aug. 30 clash at East Shade River Stadium feels like a must-see affair.

It’s been a quarter century since Eastern and Wirt County clashed on the gridiron with the Eagles of then head man Scott Christman leaving Elizabeth and Wilson-Eismon Field with a 44-7 victory against the Mike Lucas-led Tigers.

However, the Tigers will be out for their sixth win in what will be the eighth all-time meeting.

Currently, the plan is to make the trek down to Calhoun County and Gilmer County next week, along with hitting up the Tigers on Friday before next Saturday’s running of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel Half Marathon.

Second-year Calhoun County head coach Jeff Goodrich is unfortunately battling the numbers game in Mt. Zion.

“It looks like it will be somewhere from 17 to 20 players,” admitted the 2008 graduate, who as a senior for the Red Devils was named the Little Kanawha Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year along with being selected as the first team Class A all-state punter in 2007.

The Red Devils’ rival, Gilmer County, is doing a little bit better numbers-wise for first-year head man Tommy Hamric.

“Have 27 out. Pretty good numbers for us,” Hamric noted.

At least for me, it doesn’t seem like it’s been seven months since Michigan won the national title and I managed to hold off Mike Morrison by nine games to grab last year’s Grid Pick crown.

If anyone is interested in being a guest picker this fall shoot me an email and let me know why you want to participate.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com