KOUNTZE, Texas — The dawn of the 2024 football season is upon us.
The Kountze Lions battled the Southeast Texas sun all week long to prepare themselves for the grind of the season.
Coach Todd Paine and his Lions will host an intrasquad scrimmage on August 10 at 9 AM.
After playing through the first three weeks of the 2023 season and walking away with a respectable 2-1 record, the Lions would then go 1-6 to finish out the year.
Last year was quarterback Camden Johnson's first season under center for Kountze.
With his second year on the horizon, Johnson spoke about the current status of his squad.
"We had a good offseason. We lost a lot of seniors last year, but I feel like we have a good chance for these up-and-coming players to get a starting spot [and] show what they can do," Johnson said.
This season the Lions find themselves among a few very good football programs inside of District 12-3A DII.
Kountze will have to do battle with the Newton Eagles, Woodville Eagles, Anderson-Shiro Owls, New Waverly Bulldogs, Trinity Tigers and the Warren Warriors.
Coach Paine understands the tough district that Kountze resides in but knows the kind of student-athletes on his squad.
"It's a battle. To get in the playoffs in this district, you've got to go fight and compete at the same level every week. We do have a lot of returners, lot of experience coming back so we should be pretty athletic this year," said Paine.
The Lions will open their 2024 regular season at home against the Hemphill Hornets on August 30 before opening district play on October 4.