I’m not sure when I first noticed that time seems to move faster from the end of August through October, but you can’t convince me it doesn’t.

High school football’s regular season — 10 weeks — seems to fly by faster than any similar period of time. One minute area teams were finishing two-a-days and the next we’re halfway through the regular season.

If you blinked over the last five weeks, you probably missed something:

Maybe it was sizzling 5-0 starts by Austintown Fitch, Niles, Brookfield, Crestview and Youngstown Christian.

Maybe it was the feel-good 4-1 performances by Struthers, Warren Harding, Warren JFK, Liberty, Columbiana and Southern Local. The Raiders and Leopards have turned things around under first-year coaches after dreadful 2011 performances.

There are five more weeks of regular-season games to come, beginning with tonight’s slate of Week 6 matchups. But here are some unofficial awards at the season’s midway point:

COACHES OF THE HALF-YEAR

Mahoning County: Fitch’s Phil Annarella. The Falcons have looked terrific despite another series of injuries to skill-position players. Annarella just keeps finding productive players to fill holes. A swarming defense that has allowed just 33 points in five games also doesn’t hurt.

Trumbull County: There are no lack of candidates here. Brian Shaner has Niles playing like it’s the early 1960s again. Harding’s Steve Arnold has turned around a team that went 2-8 last season. Liberty’s Brian Jones has done the same with a team that didn’t win a game in 2011. Brookfield’s Randy Clark has the Warriors playing like Marcus Marek is back in uniform. I saw first-hand how low Harding had sunk last season, so I’ll give a slight edge to Arnold.

Columbiana County: Crestview’s Paul Cusick guided the Rebels to a narrow win over Columbiana in Week 1 and his team has been on a roll ever since.

PLAYERS OF THE HALF-YEAR

Mahoning County: Struthers running back David Stewart has 700 yards and 10 touchdowns to spark the Wildcats to a 4-1 start under first-year coach Curt Kuntz. He gets a slight edge over Fitch quarterback Matt Futkos.

Trumbull County: Again, there are plenty of candidates here. Running backs De’Veon Smith (Howland), Sherron Walls (Liberty) and Ryan Mosora (Brookfield) are first, second and fourth — respectively — among area rushing leaders. But Niles quarterback Stefan Yuhas is fifth and has been one of the area’s most productive passers, too. Smith has played the last few weeks with a second- or third-degree shoulder separation and still leads the area with 873 yards and 11 touchdowns, so he gets the edge. Howland might be winless without him.

Columbiana County: Southern Local quarterback Luke Griffith has more completions (77), passing yards (1,257) and touchdown passes (15) than any other player in the area.

SURPRISES OF THE HALF-YEAR

Mahoning County: Canfield under .500 at 2-3 and scoring just 62 points in its first five games.

Trumbull County: Girard and LaBrae entering Week 6 without a single victory between them.

Columbiana County: Salem starting 0-5 under first-year coach Ron Johnson, who came to the Quakers from Canton McKinley.

Ed Puskas is sports editor at The Vindicator. Write him at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter @edpuskas85