Under the Ozarks night skies, the Friday night lights shined upon the various gridirons across the region as high school football made its return.
Teams scattered across southwest Missouri on Friday night as they participated in jamborees for their final dress rehearsals before the regular season begins.
As Kickapoo took the field in Ozark to also take on the highly-touted Nixa Eagles, a thankfulness to still be playing ball in the midst of a pandemic was there for the second-straight season.
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"You know you're a little worried about the stuff going on and you never know what might come out from MSHSAA and we might have to shut back down," Kickapoo head coach Nate Thomas said.