Before the crack of dawn today, Warren County’s players were cracking open the 2010 high school football season.

All four local high schools opened preseason practice around this morning, the first day teams in Mississippi were allowed to do so. Vicksburg, Warren Central and St. Aloysius all hit the field around 6 a.m. for the first of two practices. Porters Chapel went through conditioning drills a few hours later, but also had a second practice scheduled this afternoon.

“It’s hard waking up, but once you get out here you’re glad you did,” Vicksburg quarterback Cameron Cooksey said. “I’ve been looking forward to it.”

Teams are allowed to practice in shorts and helmets only until Wednesday, after which they can put on pads. Full gear is allowed on Saturday.

All four Warren County teams open the season Aug. 20, and all of them will be trying to bounce back from mediocre campaigns in 2009.

Vicksburg finished 1-10, its worst record in nearly a half-century. The Gators had about 40 players on the field this morning as they went through the conditioning drills that will make up the bulk of the workload this week.

Coach Alonzo Stevens said there were about 70 players on the roster. Although participation in the summer program was “about 85 or 90 percent,” he said summer vacations and late sleepers will likely keep the full team off the field until school starts next week. As he spoke, several stragglers hustled into the VHS fieldhouse to change into their workout gear.

The summer participation, and the progress made there, had Stevens encouraged even as he watched only half his team roll around on the grass during an agility drill.

“We’ve had such a great summer. We’ve had guys going to camps, we won the Jackson Passing League. We’re excited,” Stevens said. “We’ve got 23 seniors and about 25 juniors. That’s going to be the difference is experience. We had one with any real varsity playing experience last year. Now we have it all over.”

Warren Central went 6-6 last season and began a new era today under first-year coach Josh Morgan. The Vikings will be the first Warren County team to take the field when they face Ocean Springs in the Red Carpet Bowl on Aug. 20 at 6 p.m. at Vicksburg High.

St. Al posted a 6-5 record and missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. The Flashes will have a new quarterback under center and a slew of new players at other positions as they go for three winning seasons in a row for the first time since 2001-03.

Porters Chapel did make the playoffs despite a 4-8 record, but was hammered in the first round by Sylva Bay. The Eagles also have a new coach, John Weaver, and a number of transfers and upcoming freshmen and sophomores that will see significant playing time. They’re hoping to get PCA’s program back to the level it was at from 2005-08, when it reached the MAIS semifinals three times in a four-year span.