Friday’s games
High school football
Gainesville at Buford, 7 p.m.
Banks County vs. Social Circle, 7:30 p.m.
Commerce at Jefferson, 7:30 p.m.
Dawson County vs. Pickens County, 7:30 p.m.
Flowery Branch vs. Madison County,
7:30 p.m.
Habersham Central vs. Apalachee, 7:30 p.m.
Jackson County at Johnson, 7:30 p.m.
Lakeview Academy vs. Fellowship Christian,
7:30 p.m.
Riverside at Lumpkin County, 7:30 p.m.
Towns County at Union County, 7:30 p.m.
West Hall at East Hall, 7:30 p.m.
White County vs. East Jackson, 7:30 p.m.
After months of preparation, the majority of high school football teams will finally kick off the regular season this week.
And no game will be more highly anticipated than Friday's contest between top-ranked Buford and Gainesville at Tom Riden Stadium.
Buford (1-0), which is coming off a convincing 42-0 win over Blessed Trinity in its opener last Friday night, will host a Gainesville team that lost nine defensive starters from a year ago and was shut out 27-0 by St. Pius X in a scrimmage game.
The Red Elephants will try to avenge a 40-19 loss to the Wolves at City Park a year ago and end the Wolves' 14-game winning streak.
There are a number of other notable teams beginning seasons on Friday.
Flowery Branch will host Madison County at Falcon Field, West Hall will play at East Hall, Jackson County will play at Johnson, and Lumpkin County will host Riverside Military in Dahlonega.
Riverside's season got under way on Friday with a 21-14 loss to Pinecrest Academy at Maginnis Field last Friday.
VOLLEYBALL: There will be two quad-matches this week featuring teams around the region. On Tuesday, East Hall, Johnson, West Hall and Jackson County will all play at West Hall.
East Hall will host Jackson County, Lumpkin County and Gainesville at the East Hall Community Center on Thursday.
CROSS COUNTRY: Six area teams will compete in the Northeast Georgia Championships at Athens Christian at 8 a.m. on Saturday, including Chestatee, Riverside Military, Gainesville and North Hall. Jefferson and Habersham Central will also compete.
ATLANTA BRAVES: After a successful homestand, the Braves will hit the road for seven games. They open a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs tonight at Wrigley Field.
Right-hander Jair Jurrjens will take the mound attempting to get his first win since the All-Star break. Lefty Mike Minor will start Tuesday.
The Braves will finish the week at Citi Field in New York to take on the Mets.
GWINNETT BRAVES: Nearing the end of the regular season, the G-Braves stand five games out of first in the division behind the Durham Bulls.
They will try to close the gap this week, beginning a homestand against the Charlotte Knights tonight at 7:05.
It will end the week at home against the Norfolk Tides.