Having grown up with a grandfather and father who were head coaches, the start of football season is almost 2nd nature for Lexington’s Perry Woolbright.

As he began a 3rd year with the Wildcats Friday, Woolbright still approaches the rigors of preseason and preparation for another campaign with a fresh perspective.

“You’re kind of working towards that first game now,” said Woolbright about the Aug. 23 season-opener at home against Irmo. “When you’re going through summer, you’re doing pretty much the same thing today that you’ve been doing all summer. You’re kind of working towards the end of the summer. 

“Now, you’re kind of working towards that first game. So that kind of gets you a little bit more excitement about it, a little bit more motivation because now you know in less than a week from today we’re going to be scrimmaging. And then, another week we’re in a Jamboree (Lexington Sportsarama on Aug. 17) and then we’re in Week 0. So now you’ve got a little bit more of a purpose because that first game is coming up.”

After a week of acclimation, the Wildcats will head to West Columbia for a scrimmage against Airport. 

Another Lexington County school opening practice Thursday was Gilbert High School. Indians' head coach Chap Leaphart was encouraged with how the players were "flying around" and wants his team to maintain their energy throughout the preseason.

Gilbert will hold its first scrimmage Thursday against Newberry. 

Over in Irmo, 3-time defending Class 5A champion Dutch Fork began preparations in its quest to become the 6th school in state history to win 4 straight titles. 

The Silver Foxes suffered key losses due to graduation, transfers and injuries. Among the most notable were running back Ron Hoff (now playing in Texas) and backup quarterback Graeson Underwood (torn ACL).

"Graeson not only my backup quarterback, he was competing for the 1st team running back," head coach Tom Knotts said. "He was a backup tight end and he was one of the few outstanding vocal leaders that we had. So, we're going to miss Graeson. We're going to miss a lot of the seniors from last year, but losing Graeson Underwood is a tremendous blow to our football team."