Carroll County's high school fall sports athletes and coaches didn't know what to expect when their 2020 season went on a shelf amid the COVID-19 pandemic, out of reach yet still visible. The county's Board of Education spent plenty of time during September and October meetings trying to figure out what to do about high school athletics. A fall season was planned to begin in mid-October, then delayed when the BOE agreed not to start sports at the same time as its hybrid learning model. Those associated with cross country, field hockey, football, golf, soccer, and volleyball were looking at three weeks of games at best. Most Carroll athletes didn't like the idea of a few scheduled games and the understanding that it could all end in a flash should a COVID outbreak hit. But the county eventually decided to follow the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association's plan of having three sports seasons of six weeks each, beginning in December. That move put fall sports, traditionally played in September, October, and November, starting in March and going into mid-April. Not the norm by any means, but nothing has been quite the same since last March when the coronavirus wreaked havoc on high school sports around the state. Fall sports are indeed underway in Carroll, so here's a rundown of what to watch in soccer, field hockey, golf, volleyball, and cross country (football will have a separate preview this week). BOYS SOCCER Carroll has a reigning state champion in Century, which went 15-4 in 2019 and blanked La Plata 1-0 in the Class 2A final. The Knights' offense lost a combined 35 goals from first-team all-county standouts Jackson Glenn, Alex Grasso, and Kyle Kropfelder. Senior Kyle Hatmaker and sophomore Cooper Santos are two offensive players tasked with filling the void. Liberty (11-2-1), the reigning Carroll County Athletic League champion, returns a pair of first-team all-countians in defender Michael Pellicciotti and midfielder Ben Hiebler. Both factored in the Lions' season-opening win Tuesday against Westminster (5-8-2). Pellicciotti and Hiebler are the only returning all-county first-teamers around Carroll. Manchester Valley (9-6) has a new coach in John Woodley, and the Mavericks won their opener against Century on Tuesday. South Carroll (8-5-1) graduated the reigning Player of the Year in forward Carter Chesney, and the Cavaliers tied Winters Mill (6-9) in their opener.