NEWS BLOG (WSAU) One of my new responsibilities this fall is high school football play-by-play. Pat Snyder, who is leaving us a week from today to focus on his political campaign, also has to give up his D.C. Everest sports-announcing duties.

So here is how my D.C. Everest season began. Yesterday I’d scheduled a meeting with Everest coach Luke Coenen after Thursday’s practice. We were going to meet at 5pm.

When I arrived at Steim Stadium, I could see the football players in the distance on the far practice field. I stayed in my car and was returning some phone calls. 5:15… 5:30… practice finally ended and, from the distance, the team started jogging off the field towards the locker room. As they got closer, I noticed how small they looked. ‘Not a lot of size this year,’ I thought.

Actually, I’d been watching the Freshman team practice.

So now I know that the varsity team practices a block up the street at the high school fields next to Greenheck.

Coach Coenen was generous with his time, considering I was a half-hour late.

His pregame interview is in the podcast section here:
http://wsau.com/podcasts/dc-everest-sports/

Tonight on Fox Sports 1390:
6:45pm  Wausau East vs. Wisconsin Rapids (live)
9:30pm  D.C. Everest at Marshfield (tape delay)

Here are this week’s high school football predictions:

Everest will be in a shootout with Marshfield, but the Evergreens should win.
Wausau-East continues their improvement; Wisconsin Rapids is the better team.
SPASH looks good; Wausau-West may be in for a long season
Mosinee over Witt-Birn
Pacelli over Aquinas
Greenwood looks better than Rapids-Assumption
I’ll take Menomonie over Merrill
Edgar over Chequamegon
Stratford should handle Phillips
And on Saturday, I'll talke Wausau-Newman to beat Thorp