There are a lot of newness around the Elkmont High School football program these days. The Red Devils have a new coach and a newly renovated stadium. Another thing the hope is new is a sense of winning.

Elkmont is coming off its first winless season since 1989, but as the Red Devils prepare to face off against Addison in the season opener tonight, new head coach Duane Wales said the players are excited to begin a new season.

“The attitude has been terrific,” Wales said. “The guys have been working really hard and concentrating on becoming as fundamentally sound as we can. They are really trying to become better football players.”

An extra bit of excitement comes from playing the first game in a newly renovated Boss Hill Stadium. The stadium has a new home stands, new press box, new bathroom and concession area and a new visitors locker room. The home stands are much larger than before, and Wales is hoping for them to be full tonight.

“The kids are excited about playing in front of a large crowd,” Wales said. “We know everybody will come out to view the new stadium and see the LED lights. It’s going to be a big night of firsts. We hope to have a packed house for our stadium dedication and then play some good football.”

The stadium dedication will begin at 6:40 p.m. with the game to kick off at 7.

Elkmont faces a strong opponent to begin its season. Addison may only be a Class 1A program, but are one of the more successful small-school programs around, having gone undefeated in the regular season a year ago and advanced to the semifinals.

Addison defeated Elkmont 28-0 in the season-opening game last season.

“Addison is ranked No. 6 in 1A in the preseason poll,” Wales said. “They have a very deep tradition at Addison and have a good team coming back.”

However, Wales doesn’t shy away from playing a strong Addison team. In fact, he welcomes the challenge.

“It’s a big challenge, but it’s good to play this game and see how our team stacks up against that caliber of team,” Wales said. “We’ve got another non-region game next week against our huge rival Ardmore. To have two games before opening up region play will help us see what we need to improve on. We’ll get ourselves ready this week and next week and then open up region play against Lexington.”