When it comes to the Mississippi high school sports scene, football is the beginning and the end, as well as an end and a beginning.

Sure there are a few baseball state championship series to clean up in Pearl, but for the most part the sports year comes to a close with spring football games and jamborees this weekend. Vicksburg High plays in a jamboree at Pelahatchie Thursday at 5 p.m., while Warren Central hosts Brandon in a head-to-head contest at 6.

Even though they’re not playing in the same place, the doubleheader provides a nice bit of symmetry. Vicksburg and Warren Central started the 2017 season playing a doubleheader in the Red Carpet Bowl. They’ll begin the 2018 campaign the same way, and in between play their spring games at roughly the same time.

The 2018 Red Carpet Bowl is scheduled for Aug. 17 — exactly three months from today — at Vicksburg High. Warren Central faces Oxford in the opener, followed by the host Gators against Clarksdale.

So even though we’re approaching the halfway point of the 2018 calendar year, tonight’s games mark a clear embarkation point to a new year. It’s the time, in sports terms, when we stop thinking about last year and start thinking about the next one.

We’ll say goodbye to the seniors and figure out which new faces will take their place. Sophomores and juniors will ascend to leadership roles on their teams. Hope begins anew as a team’s strengths and weaknesses emerge. The schedule looks as much like a road map to the championship as it does a list of opponents.

It’s the start of a time when there are no games to play, but plenty of work to do. Football practice officially begins July 30 for MHSAA teams, but June and July are filled with workouts and camps.

It’s an exciting time of year. Maybe the best time. Like Christmas Eve before opening presents on Christmas morning. Nobody has lost a game yet. Even the worst teams get to wipe the slate clean. Everyone has a chance, if things break right or players rise up to their potential.

Enjoy that feeling, because it is fleeting. By September we’ll be three weeks into the season and it’ll be clear which teams have a chance and which ones don’t. The magic of hope quickly gives way to the harsh reality of results.

For now, we all get to be giddy with anticipation and optimism. I can’t think of a better way to start the summer.

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Ernest Bowker is the sports editor at The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at ernest.bowker@vicksburgpost.com