The 1A Muckers, who will play eight-man football, open the regular season Aug. 24 at Carlin.

"I am so excited to be out here," starting senior quarterback Matt McDougald said this week during a practice. He's one of nine players from Lockwood.

The team has new shirts that read "MUCKERS FOOTBALL" in big, block letters. The backs says, "Tradition Starts Now."

Virginia City hasn't fielded a football team since folding the program after the opening game of the 1943 season. The Muckers had reached the state 6-man semifinals in 1942 with an undefeated record before losing to Battle Mountain, 46-0.

There were no tryouts for the new team.

Coach Ron Presley said since there's no restriction on roster size, any player is welcome.

"Every kid that comes out is on the team," Presley said. "We had a girl come out. She only lasted two days. She kind of wanted me to tell her that she was done. I told her 'No. You're more than welcome to stay. I'll play you if I can, but I'm not going to put you in a position to get hurt.'

"I said that at the parent meeting about all my players," he said.

A $900,000 artificial turf surface for football and softball was funded by a $6 million bond issued to upgrade the area's schools. Players broke in the field with non-contact drills about three weeks ago.

On Monday the downtown St. Mary's church bells rang at 4 p.m., which unofficially starts practice, and about 30 players attended the first full-contact practice.

In new cleats, pads and helmets, players took turns tackling the individual and three-man sleds.

"Hey, all right. This is starting to look like a football field," Presley shouted.

After drills, Presley said he'd let the kids rough each other up a bit with a scout scrimmage. But most of his team hadn't played organized football since Pop Warner in Reno or Dayton, and his biggest concern was their safety.

"They need to start getting that feeling of contact," he said. "Some of these guys don't know how that feels. Most of them haven't played since Pop Warner.

Each Nevada school is placed in a classification, from 1A to 4A, based on the size of the school's enrollment. Since 1A schools have the fewest students, they play eight-on-eight football.

The field is smaller, at 40 yards wide and 80 yards long.