Football season starts tomorrow

COLUMBIA BASIN - After nearly eight months of anticipation, Washington state high school students will once again don football helmets beginning tomorrow morning.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) scheduled Aug. 20 for the beginning of the 2008 high school football season.

Moses Lake High School head football coach Greg Kittrell said he is excited for the upcoming year.

"We have a lot of returning players," Kittrell said. "We've had a good summer and a good spring."

While practices begin tomorrow for Washington high school football players, teams will not officially open the season until the first weekend of September.

Washington high school football players must participate in 12 practice days before competing in their first football game this season, according to the WIAA Web site.

Moses Lake begins the 2008 season with a Thursday night game at Hanford on Sept. 4 for the debut of the 2008 high school football season.

The remaining Columbia Basin teams take to the gridiron on Friday, Sept. 5.

Defending 1B state football champion Amira/Coulee-Hartline High School begins the defense of its championship against Inchelium on Sept. 5 in Coulee City.