Last week was the first week of football, but this is the first week that it counts.

Like I did last year, I’m going to take my shots at predicting high school and college games this year.

I’m hoping to improve on last year’s record of 26-16.

For those of you doing the math, that’s 62 percent.

Meatloaf said that two out of three ain’t bad, but I’d prefer to do better than Shaq’s free throw percentage.

So let’s see if I can get this thing started off right.

Greenville at Charles Henderson

This is the biggest game of the week.

Last year, Greenville went in there and gave Charles Henderson all they wanted, only to lose right at the end.

Greenville will be more than happy to go ahead and tarnish the Trojans’ bid for a perfect season in the first game.

However, Greenville lost quite a few players from last year and there are still some question marks on this team.

If Greenville’s defense plays like they did in the jamboree, the game will stay low-scoring, but I think CHHS pulls it out in the end.

Charles Henderson 17, Greenville 13

Prattville Christian at Fort Dale

Fort Dale suffered a heartbreaker last week, and I’m sure they’ll be ready for this Friday night.

Prattville Christian had a rough season last year, and it looks like the beginning of this year won’t be much better.

The Eagles will get the running game going and roll over the Panthers.

Fort Dale 35, Prattville 14

Georgiana at Marengo

The Panthers have spent some time without head coach Shane Smothers, but it’s game week and he’s back.

They’ll be ready to go after losing to Cottage Hill last week.

This is the first big road trip of the season for Georgiana, but I don’t think that will be a factor.

Georgiana 20, Marengo 12

Excel at McKenzie

McKenzie played well last Friday against 4A Alabama Christian, but it’ll be different this week because it counts and the varsity will play all four quarters.

Excel had a very good season last year, and they’re set to be good again this year.

This should be a close game and could go either way.

Excel has a number of prime time players, but so does McKenzie.

I’d also wager that the Tigers are faster, so I’m going with McKenzie on this one.

McKenzie 33, Excel 27

Troy at MTSU

Yes, I realize this is a college game, but it’s on Thursday night, so I’ve got to go ahead and throw this in there.

It’s a rather heated rivalry, and you can bet MTSU will be gunning for revenge after the Trojans stole a victory last time they were in Murfreesboro.

However, it’s Troy’s first game without offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, so there are a lot of offensive questions.

But I’ve still got to go with the Trojans.

Troy 28, MTSU 17