At this point, less than 48 hours before the first kickoff, the cold hard truth is inescapable. Football season is here.

It’s been pretty easy for me to ignore this fact for the past few weeks. Even as I’ve covered volleyball game after volleyball game I still could put the kickoff of football season in the recesses of my mind. I was even able to kind of ignore all the e-mails that have filled up my inbox the past week or two concerning who’s covering what game and which team is playing where on any given Friday. After all, I’m the great procrastinator. But all that pretense is gone now. Friday night I will get in my car and make the short trip from my house to Hendrickson High School to watch the Hawks tangle with Vista Ridge and everything will be in full bloom. Not just football either. As I’ve already stated, volleyball is well underway as are cross country and tennis. Swimming and golf are right around the corner and before you know it, the local gymnasiums will echo with the sounds of bouncing basketballs. That’s right Chris, playtime is over. Now it’s time to get back to work.

Which, inevitably, leads me to this week’s topic, which is, my top three questions for the PISD football teams as they begin their 2010 seasons.

1. How good will Pflugerville be? During my interview with Panther coach George Herrmann for our Panther preview I told him this year’s team reminds me of the squad he had in 2007 and I’m sticking by that. That 2007 team, you remember, the one that was the state finalist, featured a load of senior running backs (Greg Nwoko, Zavier Gooden, Marcus Carruth) who had taken some lumps as juniors and then turned that experience into best football season the Panthers have had this century.

Three short years later you’ve got Storm Woods, Julian Ward and Sammy Flowers to tote the ball and Alex Dean to throw it. Alex Matlock leads a veteran defense and you already know the Panther coaches know how to make the right calls. Does this all add up to another run to the state championship game? Who knows, I certainly hope so, but getting that far has lot more to do with what happens in the next 11 weeks than it does with the way a team looks prior to the start of the year.

2. Can Damarian “T.J.” Jackson be the offensive force Hendrickson needs him to be? Kenny Williams is going to be good. Let’s get that out of the way first of all. How good he is will probably depend on the backs around him taking the bullseye off of his back. Last year, when Williams went down in Hendrickson’s first playoff game, Jackson was the guy who stepped up and dominated for the Hawks. He ran for 280 yards and six touchdowns in Hendrickson’s two playoff games and helped the Hawks to a bi-district title. Jackson is listed as Hendrickson’s quarterback but is listed as Hendricksons’ Hendrickson’s quarterback but he is truly a bruising running back in sheep’s clothing. If he can continue to run the way he did at the end of last season, the Hawks should be a legitimate threat for the district title as well as a deep playoff run.

3. Is this the year Connally’s program rebounds? Things have been tough for Cougar coach Howard McMahan in his four years at Connally. It seems like as soon as he walked in the door a whole lot of talent walked out and was not really replaced. Couple that with the fact the Cougars got moved up to 5A (and into a very tough district to boot) and you can see why Connally has not played in a playoff game since 2007. Things could change this year though. McMahan has his first group of seniors who have been in his system since they were freshman and hopefully that experience can pay off. The Cougars also are bouncing back down to 4A which should make the road back to the playoffs an easier one.

Of course these are just a few of the many questions that will pop up as the season progresses. The answers are out there, waiting for us to find them, but it will take time for them to come. And, like Homer said (more than likely in Greek) that journey is the thing. So let’s get started. I, for one, am ready to go.