Football players are the first high school student-athletes to have their summer vacations end, because practice starts Wednesday, Aug. 20 while other fall sport participants report on Aug. 25. A student is required to complete 10 practices before being competition eligible.

There are new head football coaches in Quilcene and Chimacum who face rebuilding projects, while Port Townsend's veteran coaching staff needs to replace most of the team's offensive backfield. Here is a pre-season view:

QUILCENE

Byron Wilson is the new head coach this season; he was an assistant last year, handling the defense. Everette Hunter departs the announcer's booth for the sidelines to be assistant coach, joined by Trey Beathard, the school district's new PE teacher.

Wilson succeeds Nic Dahl, who compiled a 15-14 record in three seasons with one post-season berth.

The Rangers' first practice for 2014 is 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20 at the clubhouse. Graduation hit the program hard, so the coaches are looking for leadership from the varsity veterans who return. There were 27 students who showed an interest during spring football, and many of them have participated in summer weightlifting.

"We have a lot of positions to fill but there is a possibility of us having a good team, if the boys turn out" Hunter said.

Quilcene's first game is Sept. 6 at Lopez Island with the home opener Sept. 13 against Mary M. Knight.

The Class 1B football leagues have realigned, so Quilcene is with Muckleshoot, Rainier Christian, Evergreen Lutheran and Seattle Lutheran for SeaTac League eight-man football.

CHIMACUM

Almost everything is new in the Chimacum Cowboy football program, starting with Mike Dowling as head coach. Dowling takes over from Shawn Meacham, who was 18-30 in five seasons that included one playoff berth, the program's first non-losing season in 10 years, and three wins over rival Port Townsend.

Dowling, a CHS assistant last season after two years as an assistant coach for Quilcene High, is joined by Darren Dotson as defensive coordinator, Nic Dahl as offensive coordinator and Josh Chapman as line coach. Dowling also coached many of the current CHS players during youth football.

Player turnout has been an issue at CHS the last few years, in part because the Class of 2014 did not have many male athletes. Last spring there were up to 40 boys at practice, and Dowling is hopeful that most of them will turn out this fall. It's important for CHS to develop a junior varsity program, which means having more than 25 players total.

“We’ve got to turn it around this year," Dowling said. "The administration and the athletic director have done everything possible to help with our success. We need a change of attitude, and that's our responsibility as coaches to get the players ready to be competitive."

Practice begins Wednesday, Aug. 20 and continues through the week, 4-5:30 p.m. The first two-a-day practice is Saturday, Aug. 23, 9-10:30 a.m., followed by an on-campus lunch break and film study session for an hour, followed by more field work, 11:30-1 p.m.

A scrimmage is planned for Aug. 30, with the first game Sept. 5 at Sequim. New this year, Chimacum intends to play at least two home games on the CHS campus field – which has no overhead lights, meaning afternoon games.

The program has new equipment, new white uniforms of a different style (for away games); next season come new blue "home" uniforms. Another superficial change: royal metallic blue helmets with white face masks are replacing silver helmets of a style used the last 30 or more years.

"We have to change the culture, and that's more than uniforms," Dowling said. "We need to build a new attitude with Chimacum athletes."

The CHS players can expect an entirely new offense and defense, so there's a lot of learning to do.

"We're going to be smaller. We're going to be slower. We have to be creative in what we do on the field," Dowling said of game planning. "We are going to improve."

PORT TOWNSEND

Expectations are high in Port Townsend where Nick Snyder's program has posted an 11-9 record the past two seasons (his second stint as head coach) with one post-season berth. Although the team must replace most of its offensive backfield, numbers are not the problem: summer camp in Ellensburg drew 38 players July 27-31.

The camp at Central Washington University included teams from Ellensburg, Steilacoom and Cascade (Leavenworth). There were two varsity competitions: scoring from the 3 yard line in one play, and getting a first down in three plays. PT beat Steilacoom on an off-tackle plunge by Wesley Wheeler, and beat Ellensburg with a bootleg pass from Jeff Seton to tight end Liam Anderson.

In the first-down competition, PT topped Ellensburg but the final challenge against Cascade was called off due to extreme heat.

On the junior varsity side of the camp, "our JVs tore it up. They did not get scored on and they scored every third or fourth play when they had the ball.”

Snyder is pleased with how his first-ever "Redhawks" team has worked during the offseason. He expects about 45 players to turn out next week, with a good mix of returning veterans and newcomers. PT is not rebuilding, simply reloading, and Snyder is happy to adjust his offensive philosophy to match the players’ skill set.

“We’ll run a little more smash-mouth football with the size of our running backs, and we have a quarterback who is accurate and throws a nice deep ball."

PT’s August practice schedule is late afternoons and evenings, to accommodate coaches who have day jobs. Starting Aug. 20, the first four days are 5-7 p.m., and then two-a-days are probably from 3-5 p.m. and then 6:30-8:30 p.m. Snyder hopes to schedule a jamboree against 2A Kingston on Aug. 29.

The season opens 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5 in Port Angeles, followed by a Sept. 12 game at Bellevue Christian. League season opens Sept. 19 at home against Klahowya.

The annual Fall Sports meeting for parents is 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18 in the PTHS library.