Both head coaches Andy Palmer of Edisto and Kevin Crosby of Bamberg-Ehrhardt always look forward to the start of any season.

It’s especially true this year for these two archrivals, who have not been shy about counting down the days leading to tonight’s annual clash in Bamberg.

“We’ve been counting down to the first day and with it being Edisto, we know it’s a rivalry,” said Crosby, who’s coaching his first day as head of the Red Raiders. “The kids are uptempo right now, but we’re not stressing that this is our whole season. We do want to start out on a good note and the kids have come out and had a great week of practice.”

Palmer just wishes, however, that the “Battle of Highway 301” took place a week later rather than tonight. For the first time in three years, Edisto has scheduled a game in “Week Zero.”

“It’s a little quick to get started, but we made plans in the spring knowing that we were coming into Week Zero,” Palmer said. “We’ve been trying to build up to that, but I’d rather go in Week One.”

The name “Week Zero” refers to those handful of games scheduled a week before the final week in August considered by large as the official starting date for prep football in the Palmetto State. It’s a concept which has been heavily criticized by veteran coaches who believe such games do not give teams enough time to acclimate their players to the hot, humid temperatures.

“Playing Week Zero, you lost that week (of practice time),” Crosby said. “So you’ve got to cram everything in, especially special teams is a big thing. You’re trying to get your offense and your defense in, but a lot of times if you don’t watch it playing ‘Week Zero’ and making sure we cover that because that’s a big part of the game.”

Despite their disenchantment with “Week Zero,” those same coaches find themselves reluctantly compelled to start early due to scheduling conflicts caused by uneven region alignments.

In the case of Holly Hill Academy, who plays host to Patrick Henry at 8 p.m. tonight, head coach Don Shelley saw an opportunity to better prepare his team for a formidable opponent in Calhoun Academy.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve never been a big fan of Week Zero,” Shelley said. “But our schedules came out, I saw we were opening up with Calhoun (Academy), of course they ought to be one of the teams to beat in (Class) 2-A. So I knew they would be a strong team and with us making the swap from 8-man to 11-man, I felt like it would help us.

“The coach from Patrick Henry called 30 minutes after the schedules went on line and wanted to know if we were interested in playing an early game. I thought it would be an opportunity to get a game under our belts and kind of work out some of the kinks before we ride over to St. Matthews next week.”

While Crosby acknowledged it’s “tough” to prepare for a “Week Zero” game -- particularly against an archrival his team has defeated five straight times -- he’s confident his players are motivated enough to start out the season on a winning note.

“We want to keep that momentum going,” he said. “But we really haven’t sat down and said, ‘We’ve beaten these guys five years’ because each year it’s a new team. Right now, I tell the kids it’s 0-0 because this is my first year being a head coach coaching against them and we’re not looking at the five in a row. We’re looking at starting at 0-0. We’ve got to start on a winning note.”

Week Zero prep roundup

S.C. HIGH SCHOOL LEAGUE

Hunter-Kinard-Tyler at Barnwell, 7:30 p.m.

The two teams did not meet last season.

BARNWELL -- This is the first meeting in 15 years between the Warhorses and Trojans. Barnwell leads the all-time series 4-1, having won the last four after H-K-T took the inaugural meeting 31-3 back in 1970. Both teams finished a game under .500 last season.

SCISAA

Andrew Jackson Academy at Bowman Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Last year’s meetings -- (regular season) won by Bowman Academy 40-22; (playoffs) won by Andrew Jackson Academy 36-34

BOWMAN -- An early-season Top Five matchup in SCISAA 8-man. Despite losing eight seniors, the Confederates were ranked number one by the High School Sports Report and return senior quarterback Chris Long, who’s just under 400 shy of breaking the school’s career rushing record. The Bulldogs also graduated eight seniors, including top offensive players Tripp Looper and Wesley Bilton, but only have 12 players on the roster.

Patrick Henry at Holly Hill Academy, 8 p.m.

Last year’s meetings -- Both won by HHA 50-16 (regular season) and 65-14 (playoffs)

HOLLY HILL -- The Raiders enter this season as non-defending champions, having moved up in classification from 8-man to Class A. They still own The T&D Region’s longest active winning streak of 13 consecutive games and 10 straight regular-season victories. While the Patriots will not have all-time leading rusher Wesley Davis (2,869 yards, 36 TDs), the Raiders return Alexander Way, who rushed for 122 yards in the first win over Patrick Henry last season.

Hilton Head Prep at Dorchester Academy, 7:30 p.m.

Last year’s result -- won by Hilton Head Prep 33-14

ST. GEORGE -- A tale of two teams whose fortunes went in opposite directions. It was a dream season for the Dolphins, who defeated archrival Hilton Head Christian to claim the SCISAA Class 2-A championship. Meanwhile, it was a nightmarish campaign for The T&D Region’s winningest SCISAA football coach Stanley Gruber as the Raiders lost 10 of 11 games in a rebuilding year. This year, the Raiders hope to make a turnaround led by quarterback Thomas McAlhaney. Meanwhile, HHP will have quarterback Matthew Layman at the helm despite a sprained right ankle which was supposed to keep him out of the first two games.

Prep games on the radio

WSPX (94.5 FM) and WWBD (95.7 FM) -- Bamberg-Ehrhardt at Edisto 7:15 p.m.

n T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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