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 A new chapter in an old story begins this week when football officially returns to Fredericksburg High School here this Friday, Sept. 3, as neighboring Llano rolls into town for a 7:30 p.m. season opener at FHS Stadium.

The challenge by the perennially strong Class AAA Yellow Jackets is expected to be a good test to see just how well four weeks of pre-season workouts and two scrimmages have prepared the Billies for another season on the gridiron.

In the back of many FHS fans’ minds – and at the forefront of others – is the question: Can Fredericksburg continue to improve enough during the next five weeks of non-district action to eventually have a chance to clinch its fifth straight league championship?

One indicator of just how far the 1999 FHS gridiron edition has to go might be this Friday‘s meeting with Llano.

“We expect this one to be a typical Llano effort,” said FHS head coach Jerald Klett. “They like to line up and get after you by bringing everyone on every down. Needless to say, we’d better come off the ball or else they will run right over us.”

Among the Jackets’ 13 returning lettermen, which include six offensive and seven defensive starters, several are all-district candidates.

This Friday’s game will almost certainly be tougher for Fredericksburg than last year’s 33-0 Billie runaway in Llano where three early turnovers put the Jackets in a big hole with a 21-0 first-quarter lead.

In any case, Friday’s battle in FHS Stadium will serve as a proving ground for a Billie team whose makeup is fairly well balanced between seniors and juniors.

“We’ve got mostly seniors in the offensive backfield and secondary, while our offensive line is dominated by juniors,” he said. “We’re still working on the right team chemistry, and it will take some growing pains to get everyone thinking along the same lines.”

Klett noted that considerable progress has been made following a tough start in Fredericksburg’s first scrimmage on Aug. 19 in Burnet.

“Against Lampasas in our second scrimmage here on Thursday (Sept. 26), I thought we played with a lot more enthusiasm,” he said. “We had a big play right off the bat to stop a wingback counter, and that seemed to set the stage for the night.”

He said that the Billies still need to show improvement in several key areas, including their pass blocking and the kicking game.

“We were also a little concerned before Friday about our defensive line, but the kids have shown improvement in that area,” he said. “If we keep on working and continue to improve, we have a chance to have a good year.”