Show me a man of a certain age who says he has no regrets and I’ll show you a liar.

There are always things we should have done or said, but didn’t. Or things we did or said that we shouldn’t have.

Maybe there was a girl we should have asked out and didn’t. Maybe there was a girl we asked out and shouldn’t have.

Regrets? I’ve had a few.

This life-long love affair with Cleveland sports hasn’t worked out nearly as well as I’d hoped.

This sedentary career — while full of memorable people, events and travel — eventually cost me the washboard abs I’d surely have had.

There were stories and columns a younger, slimmer version of me believed were so amusing and enlightening that I had no business depriving readers of the chance to swoon over them. Age, experience and maturity tells me I’d have been better off spiking some of those pieces.

But there is another thing I never did that I eventually came to wish I had:

I never went out for the high school football team.

It wasn’t that I didn’t like football. I’ve always loved watching it and like most kids, I played a serious brand of backyard football that often resulted in twisted ankles, black eyes, bruised egos and even stitches. I experienced all of those and more. It was so much fun, I’d give just about anything to still be able to do it.

But when it came to high school football, I just never believed I was good enough.

Too small. Too slow. Too uncoordinated.

I was all of those things.

I’m definitely still two of them, but years of sportswriter food and drink ensured I wouldn’t stay too small.

But even 30 years and 40 pounds ago, I felt the best place for me on Friday nights was in the stands. And, more importantly, that the best place for me during two-a-days in August was anywhere but on the practice field running gassers and — more than likely — throwing up.

And yet, after my high school days had come and gone and I eventually began to cover what happened under the Friday night lights up close, I found myself wishing I’d experienced it for myself when I had the chance.

It’s not a regret that keeps me awake at night, but it’s there — especially this time of year. I think about it every time I see a team out on the practice field or when I’m reading a preview.

One late night after work a few years ago, a former classmate and I were reminiscing about the old days on Facebook. He’d played football and I mentioned how I felt about missing out on the game.

“No, you didn’t miss anything,” he said. “I played four years and my knees are shot. And for what? I was never going to play college ball.”

But even as he typed those words, I knew if he could go back in time, he’d play football again every time.

But you can be sure if some real-life version of Doc Brown turns a DeLorean into a time machine, I’m going back to 1981 and suiting up. Why?

Because high school football still matters, especially in our corner of these United States. It’s in our collective DNA. It often remains there long after we’ve moved on in life from high school. Sometimes — like I did — we only notice it years later and then wonder why it suddenly means so much.

High school football is a uniquely American thing and it’s important to us whether we’re public-school people or Catholic-school people or big-city people or small-town people.

That was the genesis of Joe Scalzo’s story on Page 42 of today’s Blitz High School Football preview. The lessons the game and its teachers provide can take players far beyond the confines of their respective swaths of grass or turf. They can turn boys into men and shape their lives for years to come.

Joe spoke to Mahoning Valley coaching icons like Phil Annarella and Bill Bohren and younger, but also successful coaches like P.J. Fecko and Andrew Hake and some current players, too. There is a good chance it’s the best thing you’ll read today. Don’t miss it on Page 42.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to hit someone after you read it. I mean that in a nice, clean football way.

If nothing else, you’ll be ready for Week 1, which begins Thursday night. The composite schedule is on Pages 22-23.

BILL IS BACK

Bohren, 80, is back in the game as a head coach with Southington. If only we could all be that active and dedicated at his age. I stopped out at Southington last week and watched Bohren putting the Wildcats through the paces. He has a knack for improving downtrodden programs — much like Jeff Bayuk did at Canfield, Hubbard, Campbell and is now doing at Warren JFK — so expect a better Southington team this fall.

THE OTHER NEW GUYS

Bohren hasn’t qualified as a “new” guy since the 1960s, but he’s new to the Wildcats. Other teams in the area with new coaches include: Leetonia (Hadi Hadi), Liberty (Chet Allen), Newton Falls (Josh Franke), Southern (Rich Wright), United (Mike Demster) and Wellsville (Derrick Spann).

QUICK HITTERS

Hubbard is now in Division IV and returns RB George Hill and QB Cam Ingram. The Eagles kept running into Akron SV-SM in the Division III playoffs. The Eagles won’t have to worry about the Akron Irish, but they’re now in a D-IV region with Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline. ... Western Reserve is now in Division VI and Hake calls QB Wyatt Larimer the best player the school has ever had. ... Warren Harding is coming off back-to-back 2-8 seasons, but returns 1,000-yard RB Keemari Murry and has added QB Lynn Bowden, who accounted for 39 touchdowns at Liberty in 2014. ... The All-American Conference and Inter-Tri County League are officially three-tiered “super conferences” now as the move toward no-hassle scheduling takes hold. ... Don’t miss The Vindicator’s next prep football publication, Faces of Football, which comes out on Aug. 30. FOF will contain team photos and rosters.

Write Vindicator Sports Editor Ed Puskas at epuskas@vindy.com and follow him on Twitter, @EdPuskas_Vindy.