First off, let me apologize for the absent coverage of the first Royal and Wahluke prep football games. The Labor Day holiday got in the way.

Three-day weekends are always bad for The Royal Register. We have to print earlier and, therefore, have earlier deadlines.

Normally we prepare the paper on Monday. This one had to be prepared last Friday, even before the games were played.

Regarding football, this could be a good year for local fans at the high school, college and pro levels. We won't win them all, but we'll win our good share.

I'm expecting Royal High to challenge for another state title, for the UW Huskies and WSU Cougars to make the bowl season and the Seattle Seahawks to make the NFL playoffs.

This is not to snub the Wahluke Warriors. Reality there is that they are rebuilding. They lost a ton of seniors from last year's team. They will start a sophomore or freshman at quarterback.

I watched an early Wahluke practice and can report the good news that the newcomers are skilled, talented and spirited. They seem bent on getting past the inexperience hurdle.

And Royal senior quarterback Alex Myrick has proven sophomores can do the job. His two-year record is stellar. The young Wahluke quarterbacks can take their inspiration from him.

Myrick's team is the favorite to win the South Central A Conference East and challenge for a state title. As usual, the prime SCAC East challenger will be Connell.

The Eagles have lost brilliant performers at quarterback and running back and in the line but, as usual, are expected to have adequate talent to fill the holes.

Royal has only a couple of holes to fill on offense and defense, and there is plenty of talent on hand to fill them. Where there is not a returning starter, there is boy who played regularly last year.

The backfield is a good example. Fullback Damien Delarosa and running back Christian Guerrero were on the field nearly every play last year.

The WSU Cougars did not look like Texas Tech against BYU last Thursday night in a 30-6 loss. I still look for a bowl season, though.

Mike Leach will figure this out quickly. For 10 years he made Oklahoma and Texas take notice of TT.

The Cougars looked slow, but they aren't. Quarterback Jeff Tuel simply failed to make quick decisions, which is a requirement of the Air Raid offense. By the time he threw to the open man, the man was covered again.

Leach had it right at his post-game press conference. The Cougars played not to make mistakes.

The UW Huskies will make a bowl game this year because of Keith Price. The junior quarterback is not among the Heisman Trophy candidates, but he may be best in the country.

Even with a bad leg, Price was one of the best last year. In all the hype last year was lost the fact that Price outplayed Heisman winner Robert Griffin in the Alamo Bowl.

The Seahawks will go as far as rookie quarterback Russell Wilson will take them. All his offense will have to do is perform at 80 percent of the defense.

The good news in Seattle is that if Wilson struggles in the regular season, there is a better than adequate backup in Matt Flynn. Other teams would be happy to have him as their starter.