The first week of football in the Tri-Nine

Football season is right around the corner, folks. August 21, the first night of high school football, can't get here soon enough. With that date in mind, let's break down each of the 2009 opening night games in the Tri-Nine Conference, which adds Holly Springs to the mix this year.

Apex at Harnett Central 

Apex travels to the newest Greater Neuse Conference member Harnett Central. Central has been one of the best 3-A teams in recent years and boasts one of the top rising junior quarterbacks in Brian Taylor. With Taylor, the Trojans defeated defending 4-A state champion Hoggard (sound familiar?) and started the year 6-0. Without him, they still went through the regular season undefeated and ended the year 12-1. That lets you know the talent they've got down in Angier these days.

Athens Drive at Sanderson

Athens Drive goes to Sanderson, a team that features one of the best players in the triangle in tight end Matt James. This was one of our area's highest-scoring games last year that ended in a 46-34 Spartan win. Sanderson ran for 557 yards in that one -- that is not a typo. Add that to the 12 yards they threw for, and the Spartans had 569 yards of total offense. Athens' offense wasn't too bad either, getting 479 yards of total offense. Sanderson's next highest output was 27 points, while Athens outdid itself and gave up 54 points the following week to Broughton. The Jags improved a lot as the year went on. Now they'll have to show how much they've improved from one year to the next.

Broughton at Cary

The Imps have this game circled on their calender, hoping to avenge last year's 42-21 beating which also took place in Cary. In last year's game, Fre'Shad Hunter was an unknown. This year the Imps' defensive end has been ranked as one of the top-100 players in the country. Hunter told me he wants 30 sacks this year. Easy there, big man. Although, as much as Broughton flings the ball around, he'll have about 30 chances that night. Does Cary have any depth this year? Last year the Imps had the fewest players and it showed when Cary lost three games after holding a lead going into the fourth quarter.

Northern Durham at Middle Creek

Same game, different places. Middle Creek was up 15-8 at halftime of last year's season-opener and then... Northern scores 33 straight to win 41-15. It was the most bizzare box score from our area last year. The Mustangs have the talent to take out Northern this year, especially now that Northern QB Andrew Peacock is gone to Appalachian State. Middle Creek will be enhanced by a stellar rising JV team. Garrett Leatham was the second-leading passer in the conference last year as a sophomore, but he might not even be the starter in this one as he's being pushed in summer workouts by one of those JV players. I thought Middle Creek could've had a better year than they did last year but had some major hiccups against inferior talent. This would be a good way to get this year off the right foot.

SE Raleigh at Holly Springs

This is the hardest draw for any of the Tri-Nine teams. SE Raleigh smacked last year's Tri-Eight teams by a combined 108-49 score. The Bulldogs bring back D-1 propsects like QB Gabe Henderson and LB Kendall Moore, but if there's a reason to expect a close game, it's the similar option attack of each squad. Not only do the Golden Hawks go against this offense every day in practice, they also saw it last year in the Greater Neuse Conference when they lost 35-14 to SER. Holly Springs could be a surprise team this year, the school's fourth, but lost a number of senior contributors from last year. Are the pieces in place to make a run at the top half of the conference?

Knightdale at Fuquay-Varina

I don't know much about Knightdale, except that they're in their fourth year as is Panther Creek and Holly Springs. That's usually when a football team has a breakout season, and that's what I'm expecting of the other two, so why not Knightdale? Fuquay returns a ton, including 2008 Tri-Eight Player of the Year Cory Hunter. But they'd be unwise to overlook a Knightdale team that defeated SE Raleigh, West Johnston, Wakefield and Smithfield-Selma last year (all were playoff teams). Why did the Knights not make the playoffs again while Cary and Athens Drive did? I digress. I expect Fuquay to win the Tri-Nine, but they've got some questions along the offensive line after graduating almost the entire unit from last year.

Green Hope at Wakefield

The Falcons hope to end their 16-game losing streak that started in 2007. Going back to 2005, Green Hope has lost 36 of their 38 games, and one of those as a 41-6 beating that was reversed after Northern Durham was forced to forfeit its wins. If Green Hope wants to defeat Wakefield for the first time since 2004 (the two have met up in the season-opener every year since), it'll have to find some way to replace Kammeron Bryant, a rising junior QB who was honorable mention All-Conference last year. Bryant will play for Panther Creek after his family relocated this summer.

Panther Creek at Leesville Road

The Catamounts are expecting big things this year, and for good reason. Panther Creek will replace Apex as the league's most dynamic offensive attack, particularly if Kam Bryant wins the starting job at QB and has Graham Love (603 yards, five TDs) to throw to. This is another rematch from last year's first week, and PC played to a respectable 25-14 loss. Leesville went 10-3 last year, but lost QB Jake Groeschen and playmaker Zach Greene to graduation. A win would give PC the biggest win in school history, and even higher hopes for the rest of the season.

Western Harnett at Lee County

It's first-year coach against first-year coach in this old Tri-Seven rivalry that's fizzled in recent years. Lee has had the talent to eke out a few more wins than they have had the past few years, and this game should be a gauge to see how far they've got to go this year to capitalize on some wins. Western, like Lee, has been hit hard on the football field since splitting schools (leading to the creation of Overhills and Southern Lee, respectively) and snapped a 27-game losing streak last year and made the 3-A playoffs for the first time since 2005. If Lee wins, it's an encouraging sign to Jacket fans. If they lose, they'll have to count on improving as the year goes on.

For a look at all of this year's opening high school football games, go over to Tim Stevens' Preps Now blog for the full listing.