Falls sports season is finally here
The first week of high school fall sports is finally here and, of course, it was greeted by a heavy dose of rain and whatever else Mother Nature decided to throw out.
With the start of school at the end of the month (sorry for the reminder kids), this past Monday was the first official day of fall sports practice and Greene County athletes have been busy this week.
With two weeks of conditioning already under their belts, high school football kicks off this week with two-a-day training camps with pads and helmets strapped up and ready to go.
Each of the county teams will have two scrimmages over the next two weekends before they start the 2014 regular season on Aug. 29.
Carmichaels will travel to Brownsville on Saturday for a 10 a.m. scrimmage, and then will host Waynesburg Central on Aug. 22 at 6 p.m.
Jefferson-Morgan hosts Fort Cherry on Saturday (10 a.m.), followed by a long trip to Southmoreland on Aug. 22 at 6:30 p.m. for its other scrimmage.
Mapletown ventures out to Clay-Battelle (W.Va.) on Saturday for a 10 a.m. scrimmage, and then will welcome in Vincentian Academy on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.
West Greene plays at Cameron (W.Va.) on Saturday with a 10 a.m. kickoff and then will host Double-A foe Chartiers-Houston on Aug. 22 at 7 p.m.
Waynesburg Central will be on the road for both of its scrimmages, at Albert Gallatin on Saturday at 10 a.m. and at Carmichaels on Aug. 22 at 6 p.m.
The other type of football, soccer, is also underway for the Waynesburg Central teams.
The boys team will scrimmage Southmoreland (Saturday at 11 a.m.) at home and then Monessen (Aug. 27 at 4 p.m.) on the road.
The Raiders will kick off the regular season on Aug. 30 in the Hempfield Tournament and will then host Ringgold on Sept. 2 to open Section 6-AA play.
The Lady Raiders will hold scrimmages on the next two Saturdays, versus Chartiers-Houston this Saturday at 1 p.m. and then at Trinity on Aug. 23 at 10 a.m.
After competing in the South Fayette Tournament on Aug. 30, the girls will start their Section 4-AA schedule against Elizabeth-Forward on Sept. 3 at Raider Field.
Volleyball teams have also been hard at work this week with practice and after their scrimmages in the upcoming weeks, they too will start their respective sections on Sept. 2.
Waynesburg will travel to Charleroi on Sept. 2 for its Section 5-AA opener.
The other four county teams call Section 5-A home and will begin their regular seasons the first week of September.
Carmichaels visits Geibel Catholic on Sept. 2, while Jefferson-Morgan hosts Mapletown on the same date for their section openers. West Greene has a bye on Sept. 2, but will start the section schedule two days later at home against J-M.
Waynesburg Central and West Greene’s cross-county squads are training as well and they will start their respective seasons on Sept. 16 at Chartiers-Houston.
Boys’ golf is the one sport that gets a head start on the other fall sports, beginning their section schedule on Aug. 18 as Carmichaels travels to Brownsville, Jefferson-Morgan welcomes California and Waynesburg ventures out to Charleroi.
And, of course, we can’t forget about Waynesburg University fall athletics, as they too are in practice mode and are gearing up for the 2014 campaign.
The Yellow Jackets football team attended the PAC’s Media Day on Tuesday and held its annual Media Day on Wednesday. Waynesburg is ready to take a swing at the top spot in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference in 2014.
Waynesburg will host Carnegie Mellon University at noon for a scrimmage on Aug. 30, and then will officially open the regular season at John F. Wiley Stadium on Sept. 6 against Muskingum University with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.
Volleyball, tennis, soccer, golf and cross country teams are also preparing for the start of the fall season at Waynesburg University.
Make sure to keep an eye out for the Greene County Messenger’s and Herald-Standard annual football supplements in the upcoming weeks, as well as previews for the other fall high school sports in the next couple of issues.
Fall sports are here, rain or shine!