Unofficially, the summer came to an end last week when high school football teams began to practice. Around the state, more than 350 teams gathered to begin preparing for the 12-week regular season.

This, contrary to what the Christmas carol would have you believe, is the most wonderful time of the year. With just more than two weeks until opening week, there are lots of questions surrounding area teams.

Apex seems to be the favorite to win the Tri-Eight, so can the Cougars cope with the pressure that comes along with the preseason hype? The Cougars are in year two of running the spread offense, and with tailback Kevin Fogg healthy and quarterback Houston Hawley back under center, they’re sure to put points on the board.

Panther Creek and Holly Springs finally have senior classes. While the Catamounts finished 1-10 — their only win was over Holly Springs — and the Golden Hawks finished 0-11 last year, both teams are due. Both teams have been together for three years and having been through the rigors of a varsity season, they know what to expect. Will that make a difference in the win column?

Can Athens Drive replicate its historic 11-win, co-conference championship season of 2007 despite losing 22 seniors — including the prolific quarterback-receiver tandem of Nick DeMuro and T.J. Kornegay — to graduation? Will someone come out of nowhere to challenge for the Tri-Eight title like Middle Creek did last year? The Mustangs entered the conference season 0-4 in 2007, then went 6-1 in league play, which included a 42-28 shocker over Athens Drive on a rainy Monday night that led to the Tri-Eight crown being shared among Middle Creek, Athens Drive and Fuquay-Varina.

Can Green Hope find its way? Since the Falcons won 23 games in 2003-04 and went to the East Regional final in ’04, they are 5-28, with a pair of back-to-back 1-10 seasons on the books.

What will Cary look like? The Imps graduated 25 seniors from last year’s 5-7 campaign, including their quarterback, a tailback, both receivers and most of the linebacker corps. Regardless of what they look like, Ben Kolstad’s crew will surprise someone. Last year, the undermanned Imps scared the bejeezus out of Athens Drive in the regular season and Wake Forest-Rolesville in the first round of the playoffs before fading late in both games.

Last year’s batch of first-year coaches — Steve Katz at Green Hope, Sean Crocker at Middle Creek and Wayne Bragg at Panther Creek — has had a full season and then a full offseason with their teams. Only Crocker got his team to the playoffs in ’07, so will the extra time help the other two this time around?

There are lots of questions right now, but we’ll have to wait weeks before we know the answers.