It’s go time for Houston’s high school football and volleyball teams. Monday was the first official day of practice for fall sports, although both teams had recently held camps.
The football Tigers have little time to prepare for the upcoming season, which starts a week earlier than last year. They’ll squeeze in a short practice Friday afternoon before the annual pig roast, which begins at 6 p.m. There’s another week of practice in preparation for the Aug. 22 jamboree at Sullivan. The season starts the following Friday at Cabool.
Due to teachers’ meetings, there are no two-a-days for Houston this year. The team is working out from 6-9 p.m. each day.
The Tigers return a majority of their starters on both sides of the ball from last year’s winless campaign, highlighted by quarterback David Weybright and wide receiver and linebacker Ty Scheets.
At Heitt Gymnasium, volleyball coach Debbie James had 19 players at her first two practices of the season. James and assistant coach Amy McNew took the team through a series of agility drills to begin Tuesday night’s practice, including jumping over and crawling through cones. They then worked on their digging and setting in groups of three.
The Lady Tigers open their season Tuesday, Sept. 2, at Licking. They play at Cuba, Summersville and the Branson Invitational before their first home match Sept. 15 against Licking.