The season is here!

Photo by Lester Murray LOOK OUT! — Former Kilgore High School standout Dana Deerinwater (right), who now plays for Texas A&M-Commerce, looks to score against KHS in the girls alumni game last weekend here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium. Soccer season begins this week for both Kilgore High teams — the girls are opening the season in a tournament at Mount Pleasant on Thursday morning. The Bulldogs are hosting their own tournament here that begins Friday. With the new year comes the new soccer season, and the scrimmages are over — the season starts this week.

Kilgore High School's girls and boys programs played their annual alumni games over the weekend, and after last night's scrimmage against Atlanta, the games count from here on.

The KHS girls, coached by Amanda Farmer and Alice Crocker, will open the 2009 campaign on the road in the Mount Pleasant tournament. The Lady Bulldogs get an early start on Thursday, facing Texas High at 8:30 a.m. The KHS junior varsity is also playing in the tournament, and also opens against Texas High (at 12:30 p.m.) The Lady 'Dogs play twice on Friday: a 10 a.m. game against Henderson and a 2:30 p.m. start against Nacogdoches.

The KHS boys, coached by first-year head coach Michael Bradshaw and by Joey Pippen, are hosting their own tournament here at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium, but it doesn't begin until Friday morning at 10 a.m. The tournament will feature eight teams: Kilgore, Marshall, Mount Pleasant, Jacksonville, Pittsburg, Whitehouse, Palestine and Beaumont Ozen.

Kilgore's first game (and season opener) will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Palestine. The Bulldogs also play Friday night at 8:30 against Whitehouse. There will be 30 or 35-minute halves. Teams are awarded so many points for a win and a tie, and the two teams with the most points play in Saturday night's championship game.

The KHS-Whitehouse game will close out the tournament on Friday, and it will resume at 10 a.m. Saturday. The title game is scheduled for an 8:30 p.m. Saturday start.

The Bulldogs got a warm-up Tuesday night in a scrimmage against Atlanta. Pippen's JV beat Atlanta 11-0, and then the varsity also shut out the Rabbits, winning 7-0.

Looking ahead after this weekend, the Bulldogs visit Nacogdoches (a 5:30 p.m. junior varsity start) on Tuesday, and the KHS girls play their home opener against Whitehouse. Like the boys, JV will play at 5:30, varsity to follow.