The Mathews High School football program begins its regular season this week, with games against Middlesex. The JV Devils were scheduled to host the Chargers last night, while the varsity team will travel to Saluda on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest.

“We have a chance to be really good this year,” said Ryan Wenner, who is starting his second year as the head coach of the varsity Blue Devils.

Mathews only picked up two wins last season, but the squad was only two plays away from turning that into a 4-6 season. While this year’s team is quite young, Wenner said he is looking for his experienced varsity players to take a leadership role.

“We’ll be prepared for them,” he promised, speaking about the Middlesex Chargers. The varsity football team has its first home game on Sept. 19 against Northumberland.

Meanwhile, in other Mathews fall sports news, the cross country team was scheduled to travel to Essex yesterday for a meet with Washington & Lee and ...