varsity.roanoke.com

Look at the trucks parked outside high school stadiums. The ones that have Allied, Ryder, U-Haul or Virginia Varsity painted on the sides.

They're loaded up and ready to roll.

Timesland football is on the move.

The River Ridge District is moving from Region III to Region IV. Patrick Henry and William Fleming (temporarily) are moving into a new stadium. Salem, Hidden Valley and Cave Spring will have new fields. Region III is moving to a new playoff format. Glenvar's Lee Johnson is moving to North Cross, replaced by former PH coach Kevin Clifford. New opponents are moving to virtually every school's football schedule.

Those are among the top 10 story lines in Timesland as schools are allowed to begin football practice today for the 2007 season.

Time for the heavy lifting.

FIELDS OF SEAMS

With six VHSL Group AA state titles between 1996-2005, Salem has been dominant for a decade. There has been nothing artificial about the Spartans' success.

That's about to change.

Artificial turf has been installed at Salem Stadium. The spongy FieldTurf also has been laid down at Merrill Gainer Stadium on the PH campus. Dwight Bogle Stadium -- the shared home of Cave Spring and Hidden Valley -- is expected to get new carpet by mid-August, according to Roanoke County officials.

Salem already is reaping benefits of the phony grass. The VHSL awarded the Group A Division 1 and Division 2 state finals to Salem Stadium in December.

Given other positives of artificial turf -- low maintenance costs, better footing in bad weather, general aesthetics -- expect more schools to be cutting a rug in years to come.

GO WEST, YOUNG MEN

The VHSL landscape is constantly shifting.

A seismic change takes place this year as the six River Ridge District schools -- Blacksburg, Cave Spring, Christiansburg, Hidden Valley, Pulaski and Salem -- move from Region III to Region IV.

Two new districts that made up the old Valley District -- the Southern Valley and Massanutten -- are leaving Region II for Region III. The Highlands District has dissolved with Marion and Abingdon rejoining the Southwest District.

In Group A, the Hogoheegee District will have six schools instead of eight with the departure of Lebanon and John Battle.

Those changes have landed five schools in new playoff divisions.

Rockbridge County, Hidden Valley and Christiansburg are now Division 4. Martinsville is Division 3, while Auburn is Division 2.

MOVING ON UP

William Fleming is the lone Timesland school that has changed classifications.

Because of a surge in enrollment, the Colonels are back in Group AAA after spending the last six years in the Group AA Blue Ridge.

Automatically, the Blue Ridge will have a new champion for the first time since 2003 when Fleming won the first of its four straight titles while going 16-0 in the league.

Fleming went to the Division 5 playoffs five times in the 1990s, reaching the state championship game in 1997 when Lee Suggs played tailback for the Colonels.

THE NEW NORM

Longevity is becoming a faint concept for high school coaches.

Of the head men at Timesland's 45 schools, 28 have been at their current job for three seasons or less.

With the retirements following the 2006 season of Radford's Norman Lineburg and North Cross' Jim Muscaro, only four Timesland coaches have at least 10 years of service at their respective schools.

The new dean of Timesland is Blacksburg's David Crist, who is beginning his 33rd season in charge.

Other veterans include Giles' Steve Ragsdale (30th season), William Byrd's Jeff Highfill (27th season) and Floyd County's Winfred Beale (27th season).

Eight Timesland schools will have a new head coach in 2007. Half the Three Rivers District schools made a change as Clifford (Glenvar), Matthew Saunders (Radford) and Phil Collett (Auburn) are on board.

GATE CRASHING

The Grandin Theatre won't have the only Saturday matinee on Grandin Road.

Patrick Henry and William Fleming will play a combined five Saturday afternoon home games at PH's new stadium including the regular-season finale between the two teams on Nov. 10, the same day Virginia Tech hosts Florida State.

The two schools are allowed a combined five Friday night home games at the new stadium, tucked inside a residential area.

Therefore, PH will have three Friday night home games, while Fleming will have two.

How many fans can PH and Fleming expect to draw on a Saturday under the sun?

Winning records and cheap hot dogs might help at the gate. Tech and/or Virginia has a home game on four of the five Saturdays that either PH or Fleming stages a matinee.

EARLY RISER

One of the most productive offensive players returning to a Timesland roster is senior wide receiver Jeffrey Early of Rockbridge County.

Early set a single-season school record for receptions with 58, good for 1,143 yards and 13 touchdowns. He had 168 receiving yards and two TDs in Rockbridge's 29-28 loss to Richlands in last season's Division 3 state final in Lynchburg.

Early is one of seven returning first-team All-Timesland players along with defensive end Justin Woods of Bassett, linebackers Tyler Holmes of Blacksburg and Billy Cook of Giles, defensive back Sid Brown of Christiansburg, offensive tackle Dominique Moore of Patrick Henry and place-kicker Caleb Violette of Blacksburg.

EARLY FINISHERS

Region III has expanded its football playoffs to include six teams instead of four in divisions 3 and 4.

To accommodate an extra round of games, the Region III playoffs will begin the weekend of Nov. 9-10 when the rest of Timesland is wrapping up the regular season.

All Region III teams except William Byrd and Rockbridge County will open their seasons Aug. 24. That means the Terriers and Wildcats will play 10 straight games without an open date.

VHSL Rating Scale Points that determine at-large playoff berths in Region III will be finalized after games of Nov. 2-3. Therefore, schools in Region III who play opponents that have games on the weekend of Nov. 9-10 will not receive points for those games.

MAJOR DEFICIENCY

No Timesland player from the 2007 graduating class signed a scholarship with a Division I-A football program.

That could change in 2007-08 as Patrick Henry's Dominique Moore hopes to impress enough coaches to land a major offer.

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound Moore is a two-way tackle who made first-team All-Western Valley District last fall on both sides of the ball.

SEEING DOUBLE

The 2007 season begins a new two-year scheduling cycle with every Timesland school except Salem and Craig County playing at least one new opponent.

William Fleming has five new foes, including Franklin County twice. Patrick Henry's schedule has a local flavor with five nondistrict games against Group AA schools Bassett, Pulaski County, Northside, Cave Spring and Christiansburg.

The rivalry between Christiansburg and Floyd County that began in 2005 was brief. They don't play each other this year. Conversely, Lord Botetourt and James River are firing up a county rivalry. James River also plays Roanoke Catholic in a rare public vs. private matchup. Three-time defending Region C Division 1 champion Rural Retreat visits Glenvar.

OLD FACES, NEW PLACES

Steve Wright's head coaching tenure at Auburn ended abruptly after the 2006 season, but Wright has resurfaced as an assistant at Christiansburg.

Blue Demons head coach Tim Cromer played for Wright at Christiansburg Middle School in 1982.

Last year's prolific pass-catch combination of Alan Castro and Matt Aiken has transferred from North Cross to Hidden Valley.

Castro passed for 1,869 yards and 18 TDs last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Aiken had 67 catches for 950 yards. Both players began their careers at Cave Spring before transferring to North Cross last year.