The start of the Alabama Independent School Association football season is a little under two weeks away, but one local squad is ready to take to the gridiron a little earlier before the games start to count.

The Meadowview Christian School Trojans will host the Southern Academy Cougars Friday at 7 p.m. in a jamboree contest that will help both teams get a little game experience before the start of the regular season on Aug. 24.

The game will have eight-minute quarters, and while there will be no kickoffs, Trojans head football coach Lebo Jones said it will give his team a chance to work on extra points, punts and basic offensive and defensive plays and formations.

“We’ll probably just be running our basic defense and basic offensive plays,” Jones said. “We don’t really want to show too much until our regular season opener. We’re just trying to basically get out there and go against some competition in a live situation and see how much progress we’ve made.”

The Trojans’ matchup against the Cougars comes just one week before Meadowview opens the regular season at home against the Sumter Academy Eagles on Aug. 24.

Jones said it’s good to have a scrimmage game before the season because it offers a change of pace for the players from the day in and day out practices, as well as gives them an opportunity to hit someone on a different team for a change.

“I think it helps out greatly because we’ve been through three weeks of practice and the boys are kind of ready to do something different and get out there and play against another opponent,” Jones said.