Even before high school students hit the books, their football teams will be hitting the field to kick off the 2021 season.

Friday night, the SLS Legacy Sports Field features a doubleheader of season openers for the Cochrane Cobras and Bow Valley Bobcats.

The Cobras take on the Bert Church Chargers at 4:30 p.m. The Bobcats' game against the Chestermere Cowboys follows at 7 p.m.

Both teams are heavy into preparations for their first season since 2019.

For Rob McNab, entering his 30th season as co-head of the Cochrane Cobras, the goal remains the same.

"Our only goal is to win the provincials. Obviously, we've got to take steps to get there, so we're just working on the steps now to get to what our main goal is."

First, the Cobras want to win all of their league games, then the Rocky View title before taking on all comers in the provincial Tier III playoffs.

"We'll see what happens. There are some other good teams out there with talent."

The Cobras have a structured program that rewards its grade 12 players with a starting position. Losing a season means their new starters last played in grade 10.

"Most of them were backups and never really got to play much, but now they're the guys. That's the same with every team, so it's going to be interesting," says McNab.

"We've got a nice group of kids, there's no doubt about it. They worked hard in the weight room and everything we did in the spring, and last fall we had three or four weeks of practice, so I think they're ready to go."

Should the Cobras succeed, it will be their seventh consecutive provincial championship. They already hold the Alberta high school record for most consecutive titles, and since 1986 have won 19 provincial championships.

The team has a large coaching staff, and there have been some changes in some of their key roles. Ken Polson remains co-head coach and Tom Knitter has been named defensive coordinator. Derek Coopper will be taking on a bigger role as the assistant offensive coordinator to McNab.

Ethan Picard is their starting quarterback and was previously backing up Xavier Vaillancourt. Christian Golem is the new backup and played well for the U17s in Red Deer this summer.

The rebuilding of the Bow Valley Bobcats was stifled last year. It was starting to take shape under Head Coach Matt Lane before COVID saw its senior players gone from the picture.

Onward and upward, though, and the team opened its full camp on Monday.

"It's a total revamp development, and getting everybody into new roles, which is always fun and exciting."

Noah Marrkeel is the new starting quarterback. He came up through the Lions minor football program and played for the Wildcats last season in Calgary when the Lions didn't field a team in the Calgary league.

"Noah stepping right into the shoes. He's in grade 10, so he'll be throwing the ball for us for the next three years," says Lane.

The Bobcats will have a roster of 24 players for Friday's game and are expecting 10 to 15 more players once school reopens.

The Cobras were originally scheduled to start play last week against the George McDougall Mustangs, but it wasn't a fit for either team. The game will be made up in October.

The other Rocky View league game between the Cowboys and Chargers was suspended in the third quarter due to a lightning storm and will be completed on Sept. 7. Chestermere was leading 11-4 with 8:37 remaining in the third quarter.

The W. H. Croxford Cavaliers and Mustangs meet for their season opener on Sept. 4.

The Cobras and Bobcats play in a crosstown matchup on Sept. 10.