When the WIAA high school football season wraps up in another 15 weeks or so on Dec. 3, only a few teams will be left standing.

But for the purest form of hope, you just can't beat that first day of practice.

"The word of the day is always optimism. Everybody is undefeated today. The whole season is in front of us," said Kennewick coach Bill Templeton, who began his 10th year with the Lions with a rousing helmets-only workout Wednesday. "It's a leader's job to get the group from here to there. When the journey starts, everybody's excited."

That's about the size of it for the 36 teams inside the Tri-City Herald's readership area, all of which started Wednesday. Everybody's got a shot.

Some, however, have a better chance than others.

Kamiakin hit the field with a renewed sense of enthusiasm after reaching the 3A championship game last season. The Braves, under third-year coach Scott Biglin, are eager to defend their CBBN 3A title.

Despite graduating 11 all-league players, including CBBN 3A offensive MVP Tim White and a pair of record-setters in quarterback Joey Jansen and CBBN 3A defensive MVP Jon Allen, Biglin is still plenty thrilled about what he's got coming back.

"Zach Umemoto is going to have a great year. I'm anxious to see him play. Our offensive line is going to be pretty stinking good. They don't want to be known as a passing offense," Biglin said. "It's just fun to get back out there and put last year behind us. We've got new kids now who are eager to get out and prove themselves."

Chiawana coach Steve Graff, who led the Riverhawks to the CBBN 4A title and a trip to the 4A quarterfinals last season, has plenty of work ahead with a young team. But he's excited about a core group of seniors that includes all-state running back Jordan Downing and all-CBBN 4A receiver/defensive back Miquiyah Zamora.

"(The seniors) are all going to play both sides of the ball. They're going to have to, because our next best guys are sophomores," Graff said.

Under center for the Riverhawks this year is Joey Zamora -- Miquiyah's cousin -- a lanky sophomore who showed promise during spring drills.

"Jordan's going to carry the load, but we've got to be able to play pitch-and-catch between Joey, Miquiyah and C.J. (Edrington)," Graff said.

Teams aren't permitted to use full pads until Saturday. But Hanford coach Rob Oram says there are ways to gauge -- even on non-contact days -- who has what it takes to make a difference on Friday nights.

"You definitely want energy. The morning practices are always easy because it's cooler and there's not much fatigue," Oram said. "What you want to see is the type of character they have around 5 p.m. at that second practice. You can talk about effort but can you execute in that heat.

"You want to see how kids respond to that challenge."

Oram was pleased to report that on that first day, the Falcons did. In fact, Hanford coaches had to rein the players in to an extent.

"The lack of pads forces coaches to throttle kids down. They want to get after it," he said.

*Jack Millikin; 582-1406; jmillikin@tricityherald.com