PHOTO OF THE DAY: FOOTBALL FRIDAY

Larry Wipf, a custodian at Freeman Public, marks the football field Friday morning, Aug. 23 in preparation for tonight’s season-opener that will feature defending 9AA state champion and No. 1-ranked Parkston against Class 9AA’s fifth-ranked team, the Freeman/Marion/Freeman Academy Phoenix. Kickoff is 7 p.m. in Freeman.

A good game is expected. While Parkston lost a large group of seniors, they returned a number of players who contributed to last year’s state championship run. The Phoenix, meanwhile, are playing in their third year as a cooperative and coming off two 6-3 seasons with a lot of talent and high hopes for a strong season themselves.