Week one is finally here for the Haralson County High School football team, with its road contest at Hillgrove on Friday at 7:30 p.m. marking the start of its 2009 season.

Players and coach Frank Vohun alike say HC is starting with more leadership and team chemistry than it had through much of last season.

“I think the kids are ready to start getting into football games, see what they can do,” Vohun said. “So we’ll just have to take it from there and, you know, use it as a positive thing and go.”

In fact, senior wide receiver and cornerback Ryan Rigdon said the Rebels’ 39-0 loss to the Hawks in their 2008 opener set the tone for the rocky 2-8 season that followed.

Rigdon is one of the seniors of this year’s group that is hoping for a different kind of start to the season and, even more than that, a strong positive mentality that carries the team through the year even if it doesn’t earn a win this week.

While he, other players and the coach have all indicated it’s a different atmosphere this year, Rigdon knows the start of the season will be the biggest test of that.

“These kind of guys we’ve got here, when our momentum’s up, you know, they’ve got that enthusiasm to keep pushing and pushing,” Rigdon said. “But sometimes when our momentum’s down, you know, that’s when that leadership really needs to come in. You know, it needs to step up.”

He and his fellow veterans are looking to do just that, and a major focus this week will be working on the things Haralson County struggled with in Saturday’s scrimmage against Alexander.

“We made a lot of mistakes, stuff like that,” Rigdon said. “And this Friday we’re really going to have to prepare, you know, and correct those mistakes this week and get after it, get after their butts out there.”

Vohun said the Rebels’ offense did a good job of controlling the ball against the Cougars, but it was turnovers that plagued HC.

The coach also said the defense must keep progressing after it didn’t have a great effort against Alexander, stressing that consistency is the key on that side of the ball.

But along with the areas the scrimmage highlighted as needing improvement, it also showed Vohun and the Rebels some positive signs with strong performances from some of the team’s younger players.

“(Sophomore fullback) Avery Kight did a great job of running the football,” Vohun said. “He kind of surprised us. We weren’t sure, you know, what he was going to do.”

Fellow sophomores Geoffrey Walker and Nehemiah Pace also caught Vohun’s eye on Saturday, as did junior linebacker Drake Vines.

It was a night where the coach was encouraged by what some of his unproven players were able to do in game action.

“We’ve got a couple of those kids who we were kind of squinting a little bit at to see what they were going to do. And they all stepped right up there,” Vohun said. “They weren’t bashful. They didn’t mind hitting, and if we can get ’em running full speed and hitting, you know, we’ll get ’em in the direction they need to go at.”

Hillgrove’s quarterback and fullback could cause the biggest problems this week, which Rigdon said will force the Haralson County secondary to help stop the Hawks’ running attack.

“Hillgrove, they’ve got that running offense,” Rigdon said. “So we’re going to have to come up pretty strong.”

It’s the versatile quarterback that most concerns Vohun.

“That sucker can fly, and he can run the football. They want to keep it in his hands,” Vohun said. “You know, it’s one of those situations where he’s a threat every time he touches the ball, and he touches it every time.”

But more than focusing on anything the Rebels are going against on Friday, Vohun is pleased with where his guys are as a team and is hoping it shows in the on-field results.

“The kids are a tighter unit. They pull for each other. They work together better,” Vohun said. “You know, they’re more of a family atmosphere with the kids of doing things right, pulling and pushing each other as opposed to, ‘Well, I’m here. Rah, Rah.’”