Sports

As a sports journalist, an amateur athlete and the owner of an aging, ginormous pickup truck I call “Canyonero Junior,” I already wish September were over. And not just for me.

RICHMOND – Richmond High School football caoch Nick Persell is seeing an increase in participation in 11-man football. When Persell started in 2015 as an assistant on Rob Bowers’ staff, the numbers “were down in the 30s,” he estimated.

RICHMOND – The Spartans have wowed varsity softball coach Staci Maddux since starting preseason practices. “I’ve been nothing but impressed since the night we started,” Maddux said Aug.

ORRICK – Eric Fairchild looks to pick up where Matt Hertzog left off in coaching Orrick’s varsity 8-man football program. Now employed by the Holden R-III School District, Hertzog coached for three seasons at Orrick – one season of 11-man football, two seasons of 8-man football.

HARDIN – Norborne Hardin-Central coach Kirk Thacker and his Aggies are not taking a business-as-usual approach to this 8-man football season. “Everything is new,” Thacker said after the Aug.