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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Everything the Troup Tigers have been doing this summer has been in preparation for a season that was supposed to begin on Aug. 21.

Due to a decision by the Georgia High School Association last week, though, the regular season will now begin on Sept. 4, giving Troup and every other team in the state and extra two weeks to prepare.

There has been speculation that the high-school season would be possibly canceled, so it was welcome news that the games will be played this fall.

“They’re fired up about it,” said Tanner Glisson, who is heading to his sixth season as Troup’s head coach. “The big thing is now, we may need to pump the brakes a little bit. We have been driving this car as fast as we can go getting our team ready to play. Our guys are in pretty good shape now, but also they’re starting to get dead legs. So, we probably need to pump the brakes now and ease our way into things.”

As for the extra two weeks, Glisson said “it’ll provide time for us to get some special teams and all those things done.”

Troup, and every other high-school football team in the state, began voluntary summer conditioning on June 8, and what the players have been permitted to do has expanded as the weeks have gone along.

Last week, the players were given the go-ahead to start wearing helmets, making the workouts look a bit more like practice.

Next week, Troup will make the transition to official preseason practice, and if the schedule remains the same, teams can put the pads on and start hitting on Aug. 3.

Glisson is just glad that, for the moment at least, the GHSA seems committed to going through with the season.

“I appreciate the Georgia High School Association, and the coaches I’ve talked to around the state, they’re appreciative of it, and they’re excited,” Glisson said. “We’re just ready to get this thing moving forward.”

Troup has two preseason games, one at Newnan on Aug. 21, and the other at home against Heard County on Aug. 28.

Troup opens the regular season on Sept. 4 at Harris County.

Troup went 6-5 last season and lost to Blessed Trinity in the first round of the state playoffs, and it has won 35 games since the start of the 2016 season.