Two-a-days are over. Now it’s time for all that hard work to begin to payoff. It’s time to play for keeps. The first big weekend of regular-season action gets under way beginning today, Aug. 31.

The Panther volleyball team visits Farmington beginning at 7 p.m. in Scorpion Gym. Cortez, which won 25 games, finished in a tie for third place last season at the Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament in Denver. The Panthers are led by senior Denise Newlin, junior Casey Bauer, and sophomore Stefanie Bauer.

"I think we need to move better on defense," Montezuma-Cortez High School head volleyball coach Lindy Mortensen said after watching her players during scrimmages at Alamosa last weekend. "Our defensive coverage has got to improve. A lot of that is just learning to read better. We need to do a better job blocking. We have small middles and they will have to do a better job. But overall, I think we are ready to start the season. I feel good and I think these kids are pretty much ready."

Action continues full-fledged Friday, Sept. 1, with plenty of games on tap. Friday night usually means football. Two teams kickoff the 2000 season: the Panthers visit Bloomfield, N.M., at 7:30 p.m. and Mancos travels to Ignacio at 7 p.m. The Panthers, under new head coach Karl McGee, are led by a good offensive front line in Colin Tansey, Derique Duran, Frankie Ogo, and Walt Pape. The Blue Jays, with eighth-year head coach Terry Newlin at the controls, is led by quarterback Kelly Smith, runningbacks Philip Wilson and Jeremiah Muniz.

The Dolores County volleyball program is now guided by Scott Crawford. The Bulldogs visit Monticello, Utah, for a 5 p.m. Friday match.

Action is busy on Saturday, Sept. 2. There is more football as Dolores, with new head coach Don Story in command, heads to Pagosa Springs for a 7 p.m. contest. Dolores County hosts Grand Valley at 1 p.m. at Weber Park Field in Dove Creek.

The Panther softball team, with new head coach Charlie Rosenbaugh, opens the new year with a doubleheader against rival Durango High School at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday. The team is led by Stacey Pottorff, Stacy Martinez, Linda Smart, and Rachel Hightower.

"This is the first year with their program," Rosenbaugh said. "They only have a varsity program right now. They are ready to go. That will be our first game and we’re looking forward to it. We played them earlier this summer and beat them pretty easily. With a new program it is going to take some time, but with any rivalry you can’t go on what you did earlier in the summer."

They were scheduled to play on the road but now the Panther boys soccer team, under first-year head coach Todd Starr, will host Pagosa Springs at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 2, at Norman Johnson Memorial Field. Cortez is led by Joe Siracusan, Tyler Gilstrap, and Omar Pena.

The MCHS cross-country team heads to the Delta Invitational at 7 a.m. Saturday. The Mancos High School cross-country team will compete at Pagosa Springs beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday. The Mancos girls are led by senior Amanda Kennedy, and the MHS boys by Jordan Davis, Sven McNeil, Jesse Rousset, and Doyle Edgerton.

The Panther boys tennis team, under the direction of Ricky Carver who took a season off, got their season started last week with a win over Central of Grand Junction and a loss to perennially strong Montrose at home. They visited Grand Junction High on Friday and then play at Fruita at 10 a.m. Saturday. MCHS is led by Jeff Anderson, J.C. Keetso, and Billy Innis.

Dolores and Mancos volleyball teams do not open the regular season until Tuesday, Sept. 5, when the Bears visit Shiprock, N.M., and the Blue Jays host Cortez JVs in the Mancos Performance Center.