3 games are all that matter

Published 12:02 am Friday, October 15, 2010

When it’s all said and done, the only thing that is at the top priority of Straughn’s “to-do” list is to finish out the season on a positive note, SHS coach Trent Taylor said.

Taylor said the only thing he has been telling his players is to focus on these next three games, including tonight’s contest.

“The only thing we know for certain is that we’ve got three more football games left in the regular season, and the best way to take care of business is to win all three of them,” Taylor said. “After that, we’ll let them know whether we’re at home, on the road or putting it up. It’ll be one of the three.”

Straughn is coming off a tough 10-0 loss to rival Andalusia last week. The Tigers will hit the road to face region opponent Headland tonight.

Taylor said the Rams (4-3, 2-3 in Class 4A, Region 2) have improved as a team from the film he’s seen.

“We saw them early (in the season) on film as we were getting ready for Hillcrest-Evergreen,” Taylor said. “Hillcrest beat them quite soundly, and then we saw them in their last two games which was Ashford this past Friday night, and St. James the week before,” he said.

Headland lost to Ashford 36-26 last week, and squeezed by St. James with a 43-40 win in overtime in the week before.

In last week’s contest, Taylor said Ashford got an early 14-0 lead, but Headland managed to score two touchdowns before halftime to tie the game.

“It kind of went back and forth (in the second half), and Ashford got a couple of late scores in the game to kind of put it away,” he said.

After last week’s game against Andalusia, Taylor said his offense has to get something going against the Rams tonight. The Tigers (6-1, 4-1) had 219 yards on offense against the Bulldogs.

“It’s certainly a game we’re concerned about,” Taylor said. “As poorly as we played offensively last Friday night, we’ve got to lick our wounds and see if we can get some things back together on that side of the ball.

“It’ll be a good game,” he said. “It’s the first time we’ve had a road game in a couple weeks. So, you’ve got to get in that mode as well.”

After this week, the Tigers will host Ashford in their last region contest of the regular season. Straughn closes the season against Daleville on Thurs., Oct. 28.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Headland.