The rain and wind have subsided and the fields are drying. It’s time for some football.

Amidst continuing power outages and efforts to restore life to normalcy following Hurricane Ivan, area high school football teams return to the gridiron Friday night to continue the season.

Many area coaches said players will have trouble this week focusing in practice.

Francis Marion High School coach Mike Bedell said his players have to worry about getting back in shape for their game Friday night at home against John Essex.

“We haven’t run in four days,” said Bedell. “We’ll have to concentrate on running in practice this week. We’ll start off slow, but we’ll pick it up.”

Bedell said he was able to talk to just about all of his players during the 2-week break.

Bedell added that his players may have been unable to practice, but were still set for action against Evansville. That game, however, was postponed along with all games throughout the state. Those games will be made up later in the season.

“I told them to stay focused,” he said. “They were ready to play. They wanted to play Evansville Monday night. But I guess there was a reason why we couldn’t play them.”

Meadowview Christian School coach Rick Jackson has a very challenging week ahead of him. Not only has his team not practiced since last Wednesday, the Trojans haven’t been in a game since Sept. 9 when they dropped an overtime decision to Evangel.

“The kids were a little spacey on Monday,” Jackson said. “We got back to being a little more physical on Tuesday.”

Jackson said his main concern this week would be his team’s offense. Jackson said the long layoff could affect the timing of many pass routes.

“The timing mechanism just isn’t there between the line and the backs,” he said. “We won’t be able to put in any new wrinkles or new plays. We’ll have to keep things simple.”

The Trojans will face even more of an uphill climb due to their quarterback situation. Backup signal-caller Blake Smith could miss the remainder of the season after suffering a possible torn ACL in his left knee against Evangel.

Jackson added that starting quarterback Chris Sewell could possibly miss this week’s game against Taylor Road because his father will have neck surgery this week.

“He’ll want to be with his father, and that’s very understandable,” Jackson said. “I know anyone would want to be with their families during that time.”

Jackson said he was unsure of who would start at quarterback if Sewell could not be with the team.

When he does return, Sewell will be pressed into action despite sustaining a contusion on his right knee earlier this season. Jackson said Sewell underwent an MRI earlier this week and no further damage was found.

Dallas County High School coach Rick Bush understands that football may not be the primary thing on his players’ minds this week.

“A lot of the kids still don’t have electricity at their houses, Bush said. “A lot of people are in the same boat as we are. It’s going to be like starting over in all areas.”

Dallas County hosts a struggling Keith team this week. The Bears were beaten at home by Vincent, 39-6, two weeks ago. Despite the lopsided score, Bush said the Hornets would depend on keeping the players’ minds in the game and avoiding the upset.

“I hope the seniors can help us out, get the kids focused,” he said. “We haven’t practiced since last Wednesday, so we’re going to need their leadership.

“We have a lot of things to do,” Bush added, “and we only have two or three days to get it done.”