Pleasant Home will battle it out on the field against a fast McKenzie football team in its home-opener Friday night, head football coach Ronnie Douglas said.

The Eagles are looking for their first season win, and Friday night’s contest also begins region play.

Last week, the Eagles lost 43-21 to Zion Chapel.

McKenzie hung on to beat Autaugaville 23-20 last week with the help of its offense early in the game and defense late in the game.

“Basically, they’re just really, really fast,” Douglas said. “Hopefully, we can outflank them, and that’s the only thing we can try to do.”

The Tigers got a late stop on defense with the help of their linebacker corps led by senior Octavius Mobley, who along with freshman Ty Adams, had nine tackles.

Additionally, senior Rakeem Ball and freshman Sawyer Kendrick had seven tackles each.

On offense, McKenzie senior quarterback Sir Wallace Presley had a touchdown pass and a rushing score for the Tigers last week.

Adams rushed in from nine yards out, and led the Tigers in rushing with 93 yards.

Douglas said the key on defense will be to “spread” the Tigers’ offense.

“Hopefully, we can hold on. McKenzie’s always good,” he said “We just hope they (the team) show up and play fast and hard.”

Douglas said the players are really excited about the prospect of playing their first home game at Eagles Field this Friday night.

“We’re really excited about that,” Douglas said.

Kick off in Pleasant Home will be at 7 p.m.