Red Level coach Tony Ingram said he just wants his team to make an appearance in the playoffs again, as his Tigers will hit the road to face region opponent Zion Chapel this Friday night.

Zion Chapel hasn’t won a single game this season, and Ingram said he isn’t taking that statistic for granted.

“I’ve watched film on them since Saturday, and those guys play hard,” he said. “I know Elba wound up beating them 35-0, but it was 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. They blocked a punt late in the second, and Elba scored 9-0 going into the half.

“(Zion Chapel) was playing them off of their feet,” he said. “It’s going to be a battle, there’s no doubt about it. Those guys play hard. Coach (Mike) Waters, I’ve known him for years, he’s going to coach them up and they’ll be ready.”

A big key this week for the Tigers is to play better on defense, Ingram said.

“We’ve got to do a better job on defense,” he said. “We can’t dwell on what happened last week. If you want to get in the playoffs, you’ve got to win. If you don’t, then we’ll pack it up and start dribbling the basketball.

“They’re just gritty hard-nosed football players,” he said. “We’ve got a fight on our hands.”

Last week, the Tigers fell to Highland Home, 24-20 when the Flying Squadron scored a one-yard touchdown run with 3:17 left in the contest. In that loss, the Tigers held the lead until the fourth quarter.

In Class 2A, Region 2, RLS is currently tied with New Brockton at 3-2 in the region. In the standings after week seven, Red Level is the No. 4 seed.

Ingram said if the team loses these next two games, then there will be a three-way tie for the fourth seed in the region.

“It looks like to me, if we win one of these last two, we’ll be third,” Ingram said. “If we win the last two, then we’ll still be third. If we lose the last two region games, I’m pretty sure we’re out.”

Other contenders in Red Level’s region are Highland Home and Samson, who are both 2-3.

“Everybody says you don’t want to come in fourth and go to Leroy — we don’t care where we go,” Ingram said. “We want to get back. Who knows what will happen when we’ll get there. When the playoffs start, everyone’s 0-0.”