Tonight, Straughn will travel almost to the western border of the state as it faces off against Choctaw County in the first Class 3A, Region 1 game of the season.

The Tigers are coming off a 20-7 loss against Andalusia and the team is ready to start region play.

Straughn coach Trent Taylor said what he knows Choctaw County is “athletic.”

“In the past, they have been very athletic,” Taylor said. “I know that the coach is trying real hard. Football has not been a big thing on campus for them. Basketball is what they have excelled at. They have tremendous athletes and we’ll have to have the same effort defensively as we had Friday night against Andalusia.”

Taylor said there will be two factors in tonight’s game that might have an effect on the game.

“I think the biggest thing that will be difficult about this game against Choctaw County is … No. 1, you don’ t have the fanfare going into it as you would have in a rival game,” he said. “No. 2, because of the distance of my people having to travel and the support they’ll have, it’ll be more like a scrimmage than a game.

“There won’t be a third of the people at that game than there were at the Andalusia game,” he said. “The motivation comes from within. It’s not the fanfare. They’ve got to look and say, ‘The scoreboard is on and we’ve got to play.’”