MOULTRIE, Ga. — As Colquitt County High football players are getting ready for homecoming Friday and the start of region games Oct. 12, their colleagues in the marching band are preparing for the start of their own competitive season.

The CCHS band will travel to Lowndes County Oct. 20 for the Battle of the Border competition and then they will compete at the Heart of Georgia competition at Warner Robins a week later.

Band director Liz Savage said the band has performed its full show at football games, and now they’re in what she calls a “clean-up phase.”

She’s anxious to see what her students can do on a competitive level.

“It is obvious that we are a young band and we went to performance a few weeks ago and got feedback, it went well,” Savage said. “We completed putting our show on the field at this point, and we are looking forward to cleaning up what we need to for competition season.”

For the first time in her band career Savage is dealing with an inexperienced band, but they aren’t letting that stop them from entering more difficult styles of competition. Both competitions the band will play will be judged in Olympic style, and that means there are different judges for different categories. Despite the challenges, Savage’s expectations remain lofty for the band.

“Our expectations are kind of funny. We want to go and get feedback from some incredible judges, and we also want to see where we fit in with some of the best bands in Georgia, Florida and even Alabama,” said Savage. “We do expect quality each performance so that will always be a given.”

The band raised more than $8,000 in donations from parents and the community to cover student travel fees and band scholarships, Savage said.