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The Columbian going bigger, better to preview prep football in 2016

By Tim Martinez, Columbian Assistant Sports Editor
Published: August 16, 2016, 10:16pm

Among the stories we cover at The Columbian, few things move the needle more than our coverage of high school sports.

And among prep sports, football is the sport that really gets readers excited.

For example, on Monday I was going through emails when I saw one asking for my participation in the Associated Press’ preseason prep football media poll.

So I began researching to get an idea of the teams across the state. That led me to the site MaxPreps.com, which had its own preseason rankings.

I shared those rankings on prep sports blogs, and within eight hours, that post has received almost 1,000 views.

It’s excitement like that which drives us to find new and better ways to provide coverage of prep football for our readers.

And this year, we’re excited to announce something bigger and better to preview the 2016 high school football season.

In the Sunday, Aug. 28 edition of The Columbian, we will unveil prep football preview special section that will be more than 30 pages devoted to local teams.

Columbian prep sports reporter Paul Valencia has been working hard, dating back all the way to June with spring football practice and continuing through the summer with 7-on-7 and conditioning drills, talking to coaches and players to prepare for this special edition.

Instead of publishing a different story on a different local team each day for the two weeks leading up the season — which is what we have done in years past — we are taking all of Paul’s hard work and devoting it to this special section.

What you’ll find in this special section is a page devoted to every varsity football program in Clark County — and Woodland, too — in Class 1A to 4A.

That’s coverage on 17 different local teams. Each page will have a story on expectations for the team, projected starting lineups, photos, team schedules and more.

We’ll also have information on the other teams the 3A and 2A Greater St. Helens Leagues and Trico League from outside of Clark County, plus league outlooks and predictions.

Paul also will have a story looking at the year-round commitment many players make to football.

All of that will appear in the Sunday, Aug. 28 print edition of The Columbian. And that’s the catch.

You won’t find any of that online — at 360preps.com or Columbian.com. It’s only available in print.

That’s not completely true. There is The Columbian’s e-edition, a digital verson of the print edition, available by subscription. To find out more about the e-edition, go to columbian.com/subscribe.

Other than that, you’ll just need to pick up the Sunday, Aug. 28 edition of The Columbian. If you’re not going to be around on Aug. 28 to get your copy, just give us call at (360) 694-2312 to find out how you can get your hands on a copy.

Paul Valencia will also have some prep football stories in the daily edition of The Columbian and at 360preps.com in the next couple of weeks, starting with coverage of Wednesday’s first day of fall football practice.

But if you want get yourself prepared for the 2016 season — set to kick off on Friday, Sept. 2 — you’ll need to get your copy of the Aug. 28 Columbian.

We’re excited about this product. We hope you will be excited about it, too.

Tim Martinez is the assistant sports editor/prep sports coordinator for The Columbian. He can be reached at (360) 735-4538, tim.martinez@columbian.com or follow his Twitter handle @360TMart.

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