When the lights shine down on the field, four objectives of football matter most. Four quarters, 48 minutes, and 100 yards of action are the first three. The last objective that counts the most is the final score and it can go a long way in determining the success of a team over the course of 10 weeks and maybe more.

 But at the same time, the pressure to win the first game is very great. And in t13 years as an Ohio high school football head coach, no one was in the eye of the storm that thrived off such pressure more than Rick Shepas.

 During his 13 years as a prep coach in Ohio, he led two teams to state semifinal appearances and seized two state championships as a wide receiver at Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School. Now entering his fourth year at NCAA Division III Waynesburg College, the unitary 43-year-old father of three daughters knows what to expect for all area coaches as the 2008 season kicks off.

 “The environment of an opening day is what I remember the most,” he said via phone. “Just the day was a typical one and as an athletic director, I was anxious all day just waiting for the night to fall and take the field.”

 Coaches are aware of Internet access that fans can have in this modern era. Fans come in all sorts with some showing behavior conducive to what high school athletics are about, others tending to be on the radical side while including others that possess an attitude unbecoming of a fan.

 Having spent two years as an Internet writer for a high school website, this individual has witnessed the good, the bad, and the flat-out detestable sides of fans. There are some of their respective schools which I can still relate to while there are others who I may not know as well as once before. And there are others who won’t even be mentioned; this second-year writer for The Suburbanite is being graciously nice about this one.

 No one understands the real nature of high school fans on the Internet from area schools inside and out better than Shepas. He is portentously aware about the bonuses of winning an opening day game and the dangers of losing one. He has dealt with the best and the worst of fans.

 Despite what others feel, what makes him feel no pressure while maintaining an ice-cold fearless mentality once the storm hits?

 “That’s a tough question, I don’t know. It’s all about focus and I try to eliminate distractions that can be detrimental to the team,” he said. “You have to try and eliminate those and stay focused on the task at hand.”

 During his seven years at Massillon, the Tigers won five of their seven opening day games. But the one that set the tone came in his second year was nine years ago. Trailing Akron Buchtel by scores of 19-7 and 25-20, Massillon responded to the adversity and eventually emerged with a critical 35-25 win that set the tone for the duration of the 1999 season and for the next three years.

 “We had turned the corner going back to last season and it was a relief to get that win,” he said.

 Various schools all over the United States will have their opening days. Others may have had theirs at press time. Each school is competing for the right to be crowned the best in the state in their respective divisions.

 It can be a load on head coaches that have families and currently raising sons and daughters. They go through extensive periods of time installing schemes and other bits of pertinent information to their young men in preparation for opening day.

 No head coach ever wants to come out on opening day with a setback. Although it isn’t the end of the world, everyone wants to start out with a win. That is what makes prep football very competitive, especially in the Stark County regime.

 Shepas relished his opening day games as a standout wide receiver in his prep days and carried that over to Youngstown State University under current Ohio State head coach and six-time Michigan conqueror James Patrick Tressel, known better as Jim Tressel.

 “It was always fun to have an opening day. I loved playing the game. We had three very good teams at Mooney and winning two state championships,” he said. “Opening day will always be opening day no matter where you might be, whether it is at high school, college, Pop Warner or wherever, it is still opening day.”

 What will be the keys to a successful opening day for most teams? The answer is pretty straightforward according to the fourth-year mentor for Waynesburg.

 “You just have to eliminate distractions and focus on what you have to do to be successful,” Shepas said.

 Four objectives matter greatly. The first three span four quarters, 48 minutes and 100 yards. But the last one, the final score matters more than anything else.