Bowling Green School opens the regular season tonight and is hosting Wayne Academy.

The Buccaneers come into tonight’s game having not gone live since they played in the Silliman Institute scrimmage against Silliman and Wilkinson County Christian Academy.

The Bucs were scheduled to play in the Ben’s Ford jamboree, but that was cancelled because of the storms in and around the area. Bowling Green had a bye last week.

The biggest concern for coach David Currier is conditioning.

“It’s battling the heat at practice, conditioning them and trying to simulate a game. The concern is how are we going to hold up during a game,” Currier said. “I won’t know that until Friday night. Friday is certainly a test. We’re ready for it, but are we ready to play four quarters? I don’t know yet.”

The tough part for Bowling Green is that they can’t go live in practice because their roster is small in numbers.

Cameron Bell is the team’s stating quarterback.

Last season running back Cameron Cowart ran for 794 yards and carried the ball 94 times (8.2 yards per carry) while tallying 15 touchdowns. He also caught 10 passes for 181 yards and a score.

Bowling Green went 6-3 in the regular season last year and reached the first round of the playoffs before falling to Cathedral Unit School, 35-12.

Bowling Green and Wayne Academy played last year and the Bucs won that game, 20-13.

Wayne Academy comes into tonight’s action with a 0-1 record after losing its season opener to South Choctaw Academy, 27-16.

Colton Coxwell, who ran for a touchdown and caught another, is the starting quarterback.

“The thing that Colton brings to the table is that he’s athletic, he’s got a good arm and he’s passionate about the game,” Wayne coach Cole Holden said.

Holden is in his first year at Wayne after spending the past three seasons at Ben’s Ford Christian School. He was an assistant his first year and the head coach the last two.

Brayden Doss was the team’s leading rusher last week.

The team ran for 154 yards on 44 carries (3.5 yards per carry).

Gynner West had one catch for 45 yards. The team threw for 78 yards in last week’s game on 6-of-17.

Defensively, linebacker Kyle Sanderson recorded 14 tackles.

“He’s a hard nosed kid. He plays downhill and he’s physical,” Holden said.

Holden also said that nose guard Marcus Kittrel and end Jaymin Hudson are also top defenders for his team.