COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – High school football season is upon us in the Brazos Valley, with Class 5A and 6A practices beginning this week.

Both College Station and A&M Consolidated had early morning practices on Monday. On Wednesday, the two programs began practicing with shoulder pads, and full contact is permitted by the UIL starting Saturday.

The Cougars and Tigers had long playoff runs last year and are looking forward to bouncing back.

“It’s awesome,” exclaimed Stoney Pryor, head coach of the College Station football team. “We get to do a lot now in the summer. We get to play 7-on-7. We get to actually practice football. But to come back and put helmets on, and today we got shoulder pads, it just adds a new element to the excitement of starting the season,” Pryor added.

“We asked a lot of the younger players and everyone else on the first day,” College Station quarterback Cade Corcoran said. “We just threw them in there to see what they could do. They all did a lot better than we expected. It was very good to see that confidence,” Corcoran added.

“It’s great to have all of our kids back here,” said Brandon Schmidt, head football coach at A&M Consolidated. “We have about 225 players in the program. They’re all here to start working at 6 a.m. to get better and achieve our goals,” Schmidt added.

“It’s a great feeling to get out there with the guys,” said Vakapuna Foketi, Consol’s senior defensive lineman. “After a long summer, we’ve all been waiting to put the gear on and get going,” Foketi added.

“I feel like everyone had a lot of energy from the beginning,” said Consol senior safety Cannon Kieschnick. “Everyone was flying around the field and everyone is happy to be here,” added Foketi.

The high school football season begins on August 30th. College Station and Consol will play on September 20th.

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