You know high school football is around the corner when teams are suiting up for scrimmages and jamborees.
After months of practice and 7-on-7 camps, it's time for teams across the 337 area to get a taste of what's to come in the upcoming 2026 season. From the 74th Annual Kiwanis Jamboree, to cross-town state powerhouse matchups, the week leading up to the 2026 season will be one prep football fans won't want to miss.
The Daily Advertiser has got you covered with a roundup of the high school football scrimmages and jamborees happening across the Lafayette Parish and its surrounding area. All games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. unless noted within the list.
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you don't see a scrimmage or jamboree that's happening within Lafayette, Acadiana, St. Landry, St. Martin, Vermilion and Iberia on this list please reach out to sports reporter Shannon Belt at sbeltgannett.com.
(Games listed in chronological order)

#school #scrimmages

Happy Monday, everyone. In case you missed it, we learned about the severity of AK Dear's ankle injury over the weekend.
Alabama running back AK Dear is expected to miss about six weeks because of an ankle injury sustained in a preseason scrimmage, according to multiple reports.
Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said Thursday that Dear was injured in the first of two scrimmages and would be evaluated. Tests revealed the severity of the injury, 247Sports and On3 reported Friday.
That would put him in line to return somewhere around the Georgia game. EJ Crowell reportedly had a minor ankle tweak that he suffered on August 9. Hopefully we see him soon, but in the meantime less heralded freshman Trae'shawn Brown is causing a stir. As Chase Goodbread notes, hitting on those types of players is how a GM builds a reputation.
Last December, Alabama was set to make running back Javari Barnett part of its 2026 signing class. But Barnett, who had vacillated between UA and Illinois in the recruiting process, dropped UA and chose the Illini at the eleventh hour. Barnett also had offers from the likes of Penn State, Miami, Tennessee and Texas A&M, but when a player like that bails on a commitment too close to signing day, the vacancy can't always be filled by a player in similarly high demand.

#barnett

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) -- Illinois volleyball unofficially kicked off the season with an exhibition match against Bradley, falling 3-1.
The teams agreed to play four sets, regardless of the result after three. Bradley won the first three sets, with Illinois taking the final 25-15.
"We've had a couple internal scrimmages, but we played against ourselves for a long time," head coach Chris Tamas said before the game. "At the end of the day, we're about execution, and you got to go out there and do it when you know, the lights are bright and you got fans in the stands and everything else. So to have the opportunity to have the exhibition becomes a big deal."
Illinois opens the regular season on August 28 against Cincinnati.
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

#bradley #three #wcia #chris

Aug. 16—PULLMAN — Maxwell Woods is no stranger to opportunity.
The sophomore Washington State running back seized the day in December, racking up 152 all-purpose yards on Boise's blue turf in a Potato Bowl victory over Utah State.
Woods again stole the show in April, emerging as one of the finer performers in several spring scrimmages.
So his performance Saturday — during WSU's first of two fall camp scrimmages at Gesa Field — was hardly a surprise.
With teammate Kirby Vorhees sidelined but expected back next week, Woods stepped right up, carving out runs of 16 and 13 yards, respectively, within the scrimmage's first three plays with the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense. Woods finished with an unofficial seven carries for 34 yards.

#scrimmages

The Washington Huskies ran 125 plays in their first of two scrimmages of fall camp, and as has been the story for the majority of the first two weeks of practice, the defense stole the show.
On sustained drives, Washington's offense was able to muster just two touchdowns, as defensive coordinator Ryan Walters' overwhelming pass rush wreaked havoc against all the quarterbacks, and coach Jedd Fisch appeared very pleased with what he saw from the unit, which also held the offense to a combined 3-for-9 during a goal line drill.
"I thought our defense played really well, flew to the ball," Fisch said on Saturday night. "I love how fast our linebackers play; I love how fast our safeties play. I think that (Rylon Dillard-Allen) and Alex (McLaughlin) are two of the best that I've been around, and the last three safeties we had at the last spot are all drafted and playing in the NFL right now."
McLaughlin showed up all over the place on Saturday, as Walters deployed him everywhere from his traditional safety spots to inside and outside linebacker. He wreaked havoc in the backfield throughout the evening, and would've been credited with several sacks in live game action, as he pulled up to not hit various quarterbacks, but it was Dillard-Allen who made the biggest play of the day from the pairing.
In a late drill on the goal line, the sophomore safety met freshman running back Ansu Sanoe in the hole and knocked him backwards, sparking a celebration from Dillard-Allen that saw him run halfway across the field to get in the face of offensive lineman John Mills.

#dillard #fisch #first #defense

Jeff Monken does not feel comfortable comparing himself to the immortal Army football head coach Earl 'Red' Blaik, whose career wins record at West Point has stood firm for 68 years.
With a new five-year contract (through the 2030 season) agreed to this past week, the reality is Monken, 59, is now within reach of the heralded mark. Blaik posted 121 wins (and 33 losses, with 10 ties) over 18 war-torn seasons (1941-58). As he heads into his 13th season with the Black Knights, Monken has posted 89 wins and needs just 33 victories to surpass the Hall of Famer Blaik. An average of just over six wins per season would make that possible, hardly a stretch for Monken teams that have achieved at least a half-dozen wins in all but three seasons.
"I'm thrilled to be here," Monken said following Saturday's first of three preseason scrimmages at Michie Stadium. "I'm honored and proud to serve these men, this institution, and represent the men and women that serve in the Army. And I'm thankful to our superintendent, Lt. General (Steve) Gilland; Tom Theodorakis, our athletics director, and frankly, my representatives who really worked it out."
Monken has been coaching collegiately (save for a high school season in 1995) since 1989, serving as an ****** istant at Hawaii, Arizona State, Buffalo, Concordia, Ill., Georgia Southern, Navy and Georgia Tech. His first head coaching job was at Georgia Southern (2010-13) before arriving at West Point in 2014.
He transformed an Army program that reached just seven wins twice and had 19 losing seasons since 1989 into a postseason contender. The Black Knights have won six of seven bowl appearances (including the last three) since 2016, Monken's third year on the job. A high-water mark certainly came in 2024 when quarterback Bryson Daily guided Army to a school-record 12 wins, a top-25 AP ranking and American Conference championship in the first season of membership.

#army

On Saturday, the Texas Longhorns held the first scrimmage of preseason camp at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, an important milestone with the season three weeks away as Steve Sarkisian's team participated in a game-like environment, although there was not a game plan, the Longhorns head coach said during a media availability afterwards.
Given the level of contact in scrimmages, the biggest priority is always getting through it without any significant injuries, and while Sarkisian said that there were some "bumps and bruises," he did not provide any indication that any Texas players sustained notable injuries.
There were a number of players who missed the scrimmage due to the flu, which has impacted the team this week — wide receiver Daylan McCutcheon, defensive lineman Justus Terry, edge/linebacker Brad Spence, linebacker Rasheem Biles, linebacker Ty'Anthony Smith, who also missed some practice time this week, and cornerback John Meredith.
As is often the case during the first scrimmage, the defense was slightly ahead of the offense thanks to some highlight plays that included an interception by safety Jonah Williams in the end zone and a 75-yard return by cornerback Graceson Littleton after an interception in the red zone.
But the offense did also come up with some explosive plays, including touchdown passes by each quarterback. Wide receivers Ryan Wingo and Cam Coleman both had long touchdown catches, running back Raleek Brown caught a touchdown from KJ Lacey, and Dia Bell connected with wide receiver Kohan Brown for a score.

#linebacker #team

One of the main priorities for most coaches is to get out of the Week 0 scrimmages healthy.
At the same time, new Bloomington North coach Andy Harding wanted to get as many reps as possible for freshman quarterback Fisher Pugh and avoid any chances of injury. He got a few more than he was planning on at Dennis O. Martin Field on Friday, Aug. 14 in a two-hour controlled workout against Southport.
Pugh had to finish up the scrimmage with some of the backups after Tristan Stogdill rolled out to throw a pass, which fluttered well off target and ended his evening with an apparent injury. Pugh took a good lick in the final set of plays but bounced right back up.
More: Bloomington North football starting fresh with new coach, freshman QB
"We knew we wanted to get him a lot of reps," Harding said. "We were also getting Tristan Stogsdill some reps. I don't exactly know happened, but we didn't put him back in because (his arm) felt weird.

#coach

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama running back AK Dear is expected to miss about six weeks because of an ankle injury sustained in a preseason scrimmage, according to reports.
Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer said Thursday that Dear was injured in the first of two scrimmages and would be evaluated. Tests revealed the severity of the injury, 247Sports and On3 reported Friday.
"It was unfortunate because he was having a real nice scrimmage there with the touches he got," DeBoer said.
Dear, a redshirt freshman from Mississippi, had been in the mix for the starting job to replace Jam Miller. The Crimson Tide will now turn to highly touted freshman Trae'shawn Brown, EJ Crowell and Daniel Hill. Hill led the team with six rushing touchdowns in 2025.
Dear had 140 yards rushing and three scores in five games.

#scrimmage

Ball State men's basketball's 2026-27 schedule has been revealed.
The Cardinals are entering a new era under head coach Chris Capko, who will begin his tenure with a pair of exhibition scrimmages at Purdue and at home against Purdue Fort Wayne. The red and black will open the regular season on the road at Georgia Southern as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge.
More: Ball State athletics report card for the 2025-26 seasons
The nonconference slate features three in-state rivals and a pair of road games against ACC opponents — including a return to SMU for Capko, who served as the Mustangs **** ociate head coach last season. The Mid-American Conference schedule now features 22 games — two games each against the other 11 teams in the conference.
Here's a look at the full 2026-27 schedule for Ball State basketball.

#state #schedule #coach

Here's a look at the schedule for this week's Triad Kick-Off Classic high school football jamboree hosted by the High Point-Thomasville HiToms.
Scrimmages will be Wednesday and Friday at the High Point Athletic Complex.
On Wednesday, in a JV matchup to start, High Point Christian and Ragsdale will take on Bishop McGuinness and High Point Central at 6 p.m. Ragsdale and Bishop will meet in a varsity matchup at 7, and the teams will trade off against Jordan-Matthews at 7:20. Games will be in AJ Simeon Stadium.
On Friday, with JV games at adjacent Aderholdt Track and varsity games in AJ Simeon Stadium, Jordan-Matthews and East Davidson will play while Glenn and Ledford will also play at 6. Southeast Guilford-Thomasville and Southern Guilford-Southwest Guilford will be at 7:30. High Point Christian and TW Andrews will be at 8:45.

#high #thomasville #christian

Multiple 76ers spotted playing in annual Rico Hines Runs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The NBA offseason is starting to enter its final stages as players and teams around the league will start to get ready for the campaign to come. This is certainly the case for the Philadelphia 76ers, who are going into a preseason camp with a plethora of new faces, whether it was the blockbuster trade acquisition, Jaylen Brown, another marquee signing in LeBron James, or their first-round pick, LaBaron Philon Jr.
The latter of the aforementioned trio was spotted during an off-season pick-up game at the annual Rico Hines Runs, as reported by ESPN's Dave McMenamin. Hines has been an ***** istant coach with the Sixers for several seasons at this point, and his scrimmages have become a staple of the offseason for that time period.
Given that Hines is a member of Philadelphia's coaching staff, it's no surprise that there were multiple other members of the Sixers, as V.J. Edgecombe, Adem Bona, Dominick Barlow, and Caleb Love were all spotted in the gym. Edgecombe went into the offseason off a fiery rookie campaign in the NBA, averaging 16 points and 4.2 ***** ists, while Barlow and Bona managed to carve a sizable role into Nick Nurse's system throughout the season.
Something to point out about Edgecombe is that this isn't his first on-court action in the offseason, given that he was a part of the Bahamian National Team during a recent run of FIBA World Cup Qualifiers in early July.

#offseason #spotted #runs

Florida State football held its second preseason scrimmage on Sunday, Aug. 9, at Doak Campbell Stadium.
It was the second scrimmage of the week for the program, with the first one coming on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The two scrimmages were sandwiched between the program's annual trip to Jacksonville to practice at the University of North Florida.
Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell said the team ran "around 100 plays" and he felt it was a "good day" for his unit.
"I thought it was a good day for practice 10, to see the installation, the situations," Norvell said in a Zoom after the scrimmage. "We had a little bit of a two-minute there at the end, seeing guys work. I thought overall, there was a lot of great film that we're going to be able to evaluate from."
Here are three takeaways from the scrimmage.

#norvell #second #practice #doak

There are plenty of new faces in new places as the 2026 college football season inches closer. Some of these coaches in the first year with their new programs are tasked with resetting the culture, others are expected to bring a sense of stability, and a select few are burdened with the mandate to win right away.
Penn State head coach Matt Campbell certainly won't be fired or reprimanded if he struggles in his first year in Happy Valley, but this is a proud program that won't accept mediocrity or underachievement for very long. Brad Crawford of CBS Sports predicted the records for each new coach this season, and the Nittany Lions' leader got a respectable estimate at 9-3.
This record is tied for third-best among all of Crawford's coaching predictions, with Utah coach Morgan Scalley and LSU coach Lane Kiffin ranked higher. Campbell is even expected to do better than Kyle Whittingham at Michigan, who is arguably walking into a much easier situation with a lot more talent.
9-3 likely wouldn't be enough to get into the College Football Playoff, but it would secure a Bowl Game and be a much smoother ride than last year's rollercoaster. Crawford has Penn State going 6-3 in the Big Ten, likely meaning losses against Michigan and USC. It hopefully wouldn't be a sign of things to come, but after more than a decade of big-game blunders under the leadership of James Franklin, it would be a relief for fans if Campbell didn't begin his tenure losing two of his only big games in the conference.
It's tough to gauge any team's standing right now with no games or scrimmages happening, but the vibes seem to be positive around the Nittany Lions at the moment. Let's see if they can parlay this energy into a successful season that shocks some people.

#coach #penn #crawford #college

Dereck Lively II covered the cost of admission for all 105 campers at a free four-hour hoop camp he hosted Saturday at Beckley-Saner Recreation Center in Oak Cliff. The Dallas Mavericks center ran the event in conjunction with Mavs Academy. Lively served as the featured coach. He led drills, refereed scrimmages, contested shots in the paint, and put campers through a series of push-up challenges. Lunch was provided for every participant. Campers also received swag bags that contained T-shirts and autographed photos.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Dereck Lively II covered the cost of admission for all …

#lively #cost #admission #beckley

Good morning, BBN!
Mark Pope announced a new, fun media event yesterday: UK Basketball Media Madness.
Coach Pope has been on fire on social media this summer, and earlier this week he opened up practice to the public, showing that he's really trying to rally all of BBN ahead of this season.
The UK Media Madness will involve media members running drills in full athletic gear, 3-on-3 and 5-on-5 scrimmages, and even having the UK players ask the media members questions.
It's hilarious, and it's awesome to see a coach invest in the media like this!

#madness #good #Basketball

The Mountain Amateur Athletic Club committee has announced its 2026 Hall of Fame class, featuring longtime coaches and former standout athletes from Western North Carolina.
The five-person class includes former Reynolds football coach Scott Conner, former Mars Hill football coach Tim Clifton, former Brevard College cross country coach Norm Witek, former Clemson women's basketball player Annette Wise and former UNC Asheville women's basketball player Sheila Ford Duncan. The Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are longtime Western Carolina football and basketball play-by-play announcer Gary Ayers, sportswriter Pete McDaniel and former Western Carolina and Cherokee football coach Kent Briggs. They will be inducted Oct. 4 at the Omni Grove Park Inn.
TOP RETURNING XC RUNNERS: Top WNC high school cross country runners to watch in 2026 NCHSAA, NCISAA season
PRESEASON SCRIMMAGES: WNC high school football scrimmage schedule for 2026 preseason
Conner led the Rockets for 14 seasons, accumulating a 116-41 overall record, nine conference championships and two state championship game appearances. He also coached the Reynolds girls basketball team, leading them to the regional championship in 1991.

#western

After eight weeks of practice, Kentucky Basketball had a tight battle on the winners board going into the last summer practice, and he invited Kentucky fans to attend at Rupp Arena on Thursday morning.
The winners board, which tracks players' wins across drills and scrimmages, has a tie for first between Malachi Moreno and Jerone Morton at 55 wins. Zoom Diallo and Milan Momcilovic are within striking distance with 53 and 52 wins.
To raise the stakes and to give the players the opportunity, Mark Pope moved the final practice from the Joe Craft Center to Rupp Arena. That is something he has done consistently in his time in Lexington. Something he hasn't done, though, is give fans a firsthand look at practice.
On Thursday morning, Pope issued an impromptu invite to practice with an Instagram Live.
"If you want to come here and it just be you, by yourself, with the team, and feel what the last day of summer workouts is, come on. Knock on the door, and I'll let you in."

#practice #kentucky #thursday #board

NEWARK - Pads are popping, and Licking County football teams will see an opponent for the first time this weekend.
Scrimmages begin Aug. 6 with Northridge visiting Berne Union. All 11 Licking County teams will be in action twice before the regular season begins Aug. 21.
Northridge at Berne Union, 6 p.m.
Watkins Memorial at Newark, 9 a.m.
Granville at Sheridan, 10 a.m.

#licking #county #teams

The prelude to the scholastic football season is the scrimmage season.
With most teams around the state beginning their season the weekend of Aug. 27-29 and the NJSIAA's official start of practice being Aug. 10, the scrimmage season is now condensed. Most teams will be done with their scrimmages by Aug. 22.
The scrimmage season begins Aug. 17.
Here is the Shore Conference's scrimmage schedule
Colts Neck at Brick Township, 9 a.m.

#season #colts #brick #prelude

PORT HURON — To help inform fans in the Blue Water Area, the Times Herald archive all of its high school football coverage for the 2026 MHSAA season here.
Conference standings and team statistics can be found at the bottom of the page. Be sure to bookmark this article, as it'll be updated regularly.
7-ON-7 SHOWDOWN: As season nears, Blue Water Area football teams 'feel the energy' in 7-on-7 scrimmages
SCHEDULES: Every Blue Water Area team's 2026 schedule
Aug. 10: Teams can start practicing.

#blue #port #herald

NFL teams and NFL players are not famously open and transparent about injury timelines, but Michael Penix Jr. was an exception today.
Per the team's 2025 starting quarterback, his recovery from his November ACL injury is progressing nicely, but it still could be a month until he's fully medically cleared. If all goes well, Penix noted, it could be a little sooner. Because the long end of that estimate would put us at August 29, that likely means the most hotly-anticipated battle of camp is all but over. So long as Tua Tagovailoa's back tightness is indeed minor, he'll be starting in Week 1.
When Penix suffered his ACL injury and had surgery, insider Ian Rapoport initially reported that it would carry a nine month recovery at minimum. Since then, both the team and Penix have avoided putting concrete timelines on his recovery, but mid-August would be around nine months and Penix now seems unlikely to be cleared by then.
Fans inserted their own timelines into the vacuum between Rapoport's initial report and the months that have come. Some very optimistic souls believed he could be cleared for minicamp, but that time came and went. Others hoped we might see Penix cleared in time for the start of training camp, a more reasonable guess but still a bit of an optimistic one.
On the first day of training camp, Penix was out there moving and throwing, but he still has not been fully medically cleared and cleared for full team work. The long and short of it is that Penix can do some work and give the coaching staff a measure of his ability, but cannot fully participate in training camp and almost certainly will not appear in preseason action. He'll get to build rapport with receivers because he's there and throwing—and he chucked a long touchdown to Zachariah Branch Wednesday—but obviously the work of running the offense and participating in scrimmages and the like is still a ways away.

#penix #still #injury #recovery

The Tennessee high school football season got a little closer this week as TSSAA football padded practices began July 27.
Here's a look at August's preseason scrimmages. The Tennessean will update its list as more submissions are made.
Coaches who wish to have their games added can email time, date and location information to tpalmateertennessean.com.
East Robertson at Gordonsville, 6 p.m.; Forrest at Moore County, 6 p.m.; Hillsboro at Stratford, 6 p.m.; Spring Hill at Warren County, 6 p.m.; Kenwood at Montgomery Central, 6 p.m.
More: Ranking Nashville area's top 15 kickers, punters for 2026 TSSAA football season

#tssaa #tennessee #east

High school football's opening night is at the end of August. The Virginia High School League has released the master schedule for this season.
Can Wilson Memorial repeat as Shenandoah District champions? Will Buffalo Gap repeat as regional champions or will Riverheads reclaim its dominance? Can Waynesboro continue to build its program after finding some success a year ago? Is there a Shenandoah District team that can end up playing on the final Saturday of the season this year?
All of those questions, and others, will be answered over the next five months or so.
Practice begins July 30 for some teams, followed by scrimmages and finally the regular season, which opens Aug. 28 for seven of the nine Shenandoah District teams. The other two — Wilson Memorial and Alleghany — open Sept. 4.
(All games scheduled to start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted)

#season #school #champions

The District 10 football season is right around the corner with teams getting ready to attend camp in a few weeks. Below are the team-by-team schedules and on the bottom is a scrimmage schedule as well. Teams have the option to play one scrimmage and start the regular season on Aug. 28 or play two scrimmages. All D-10 teams choose the first option. The games with an asterisk are region games.
More: Fans can vote for the District 10 top returning linebacker this fall
More: Fans can vote for the top returning D-10 defensive lineman of the year
Region 1
Farrell

#teams #region #season #games

LOS ANGELES, CA – USC women’s basketball star JuJu Watkins said she is “continuing to get stronger and be ready to play” for the upcoming season.
Watkins spoke to reporters Monday, June 29 as the Trojans are in the midst of its summer camp. While neither Watkins nor USC provided an official status report, or take questions about the star guard's status, Watkins did say she has been able to participate in practices and scrimmages as she continues her journey back to playing for the Trojans.
“I feel great. Really blessed to just be here, getting feeling back to myself, and being able to practice with the team,” she said. “It’s just been a long time coming. I’ve just been working out, grinding every day so that I could be in this position, so to see all that hard work kind of pay off right now, it’s really fulfilling.”
More: JuJu Watkins has new role as USC women eye run with Jazzy Davidson
Watkins missed the entire 2025-26 season as she recovered from a torn ACL she suffered in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, ending the campaign in which she was named National Player of the Year. Now more than 14 months later, the Trojans are getting to see their star participate.

There are some quiet weeks once the equipment is handed in after the final game, but there really is no offseason in football. Weight rooms have been hubs of activity for months and on Wednesday a dozen teams took part in the Mahopac Football Passing Scrimmages. For the last six years it's been a place to make valuable connections.
Arlington, Carmel, Fox Lane, Harrison, John Jay-Cross River, John Jay-East Fishkill, Lakeland, Mahopac, New Rochelle, Panas, Rye and Somers all took part.
Mahopac will also be hosting two sessions of the Block & Tackle High School Camp, June 30-July 2 and July 20-23.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: A look inside the lines at the Mahopac Football Passing Scrimmages

The No. 11 Oregon baseball team will be playing for its season when it takes on No. 6 Texas June 7 in the Austin Super Regional at Disch-Falk Field.
And there's no one the Ducks (43-17, 20-10 Big Ten) would likely rather give the ball to on the mound than sophomore Will Sanford, the probable starter for Game 2 after a humbling 11-3 loss in Game 1.
The true sophomore is 9-2 this season in 16 appearances with a 3.46 earned-run average and a career-best 119 strikeouts. He's coming off his most dominant performance of the season against Washington State during the Eugene Regional, but outside a couple of tweaks he's always brought the same mindset.
"I think it's just how I compete out there," Sanford said. "Even if there’s no fans, even if I’m just playing against our team, I think I’ve done this throughout my career, especially in scrimmages. You can ask any of my teammates. I’m the same animated person when I pitch in scrimmages. So I think it’s just the competitor I am. I just really get amped up."
The righty hasn't been confirmed as the Game 2 starter, but he'll likely get the ball come Sunday in Oregon's biggest game of the season in front of a rowdy crowd of nearly 9,000 fans in Austin, similar to the environments Sanford has thrived in this season.