SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The 2019 Missouri High School football season will kick off a week from tonight.

Before the the players throw around the pigskin for real, however, there was one last chance to scrimmage.

Jamborees held across the Ozarks offered one final opportunity for improvement before week one.

Rain, however, put a damper on the mood across the area.

At Republic High School, occasional downpours plagued the players from warm-ups to closing time.

The Tigers were hosting Cassville, Parkview and Willard for some scrimmage action.

The four teams split the field and rotated a set number of plays on offense and defense before switching to the next opponent.

The coaches said the jamboree is fun for players, but also offers an important measuring stick ahead of week one.

Republic Football Head Coach Dustin Baldwin: “It’s always fun. They look forward to it probably more than the coaches do. Coaches kind of see it as what it is. It’s a scrimmage. We want to get through it healthy and try to do some good things along the way.”

Cassville Football Head Coach Lance Parnell: “It’s very important. I’ve been doing this a long time. You see two of your biggest gains from jamboree to week one and then week one to week two. I mean we’ve been bopping each other’s heads all summer and it’s good for our kids to see somebody else. It really gives us a good measuring stick of where we’re at.”