All three Verde Valley high school campuses opened for students’ first days this week, and opening night for each of their football programs is not far behind.

Less than three weeks, in fact, separate the full contact practices at Camp Verde, Mingus and Sedona Red Rock high schools from their season openers Friday, Aug. 21. The Arizona Interscholastic Association calls this early time period, prior to most teams’ opening nights, as “zero week,” so practice in helmets and pads for all three teams officially began July 27.

Many changes greet all three programs, as the AIA has reclassified them into new competitive divisions and sections. Their primary, but not so well-known boosters are their feeder programs — youth football teams designed to prepare budding younger players for the rigors of high school play. After a year’s hiatus for Red Rock Youth Football, feeders are back this fall for all three high schools.  

As a guide to local fans, here is a brief overview of the changes for each team and feeder, along with capsules and schedules of the new competition for each of the three teams.

Remember to follow @sedonanews on Twitter for continuing, early developments in the news affecting Sedona and the Verde Valley.

For the full column, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 5, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.