Like all the local high school football players, we at The Clanton Advertiser have been hard at work recently preparing for the upcoming season.

OK, so our time out in the heat is limited to about 30 minutes each day, there are no coaches yelling at us and we haven’t been tackled yet by a 225-pound linebacker. But still, we have been putting in some work.

The focus the past few weeks has been our annual football preview magazine, Kickoff. This year’s edition should be the best yet. We’ve taken photos at practices for each local team and talked to the coaches about what to expect. There will be photos from each of the local bands and cheerleaders, too. The magazine will include feature stories and feature photos highlighting one player on each team who has a unique story to tell.

You’ll also want to check out a story about homefield advantage, looking at whether it actually helps a team to be playing at home, and which local team has enjoyed the best homefield advantage based on winning percentage.

The magazines will be included in the Thursday, Aug. 29 edition of the newspaper. That is the same day that local rivals Chilton County High School and Jemison kick off the season with their annual showdown. This year, the game will be played at Jemison’s Panther Stadium.

You’ll see members of the Advertiser staff at the game in full force, passing out free copies of Kickoff 2013, so be sure to look us up to get your copy. We’ll do the same at each of the first home games for all the local teams.

The Advertiser will also be your source for coverage of local teams throughout the season, including the preseason practice games to be played on Aug. 22-23. “Like” the Advertiser on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for as-it-happens updates during games. Then, visit ClantonAdvertiser.com for the final scores as they roll in.

And our work won’t end on game night. The Weekend edition of the newspaper will feature full coverage from all the games. Then there’s Kickoff Weekly, a special section included in the Wednesday edition of the newspaper during football season.

Kickoff Weekly will look back at the best games and performances from the previous week plus preview games on the upcoming Friday night. There are lots of photos from games, too.

If you’re like us, your excitement about football is building to a fever pitch. The Advertiser wants to help you enjoy the season!

Stephen Dawkins is managing editor of The Clanton Advertiser. He can be reached at stephen.dawkins@clantonadvertiser.com.