For many, a long-awaited moment has finally arrived: the return of high school football for another glorious season.

Whether you’re planning to go to a game or two or 10, chances are good you will be impacted in some way by those “Friday night lights.”

We know football players – as well as their coaches, plus band members, cheerleaders, color guard members, dance lines, majorettes and more – at our local schools would love to have a great crowd cheering them on as they take the field each Friday night this season, and we at the Franklin County Times extend our very best wishes to all. We want to commend these students, as well as their coaches and instructors, for their school spirit and show them how proud we are of their hard work and good attitudes. We hope you’ll join us in cheering them on.

These students and their adult leaders put so much work into what they do. We know countless hours have been spent preparing for the next 10 weeks, characterized by early mornings, late nights, long days innumerable. It takes a nearly all-consuming passion to put together what we see for only a couple hours a week on Friday nights.

Through it all, these students are learning priceless lessons about the value of hard work, dedication to your craft, perseverance, teamwork and more. Learning this life skills will serve them far beyond a season spent on a high school gridiron

Please show your support by coming out to help cheer them to victory – and let them know how proud you are regardless of that final figure on the scoreboard at the end of the night.

Happy football season!