The Opp Bobcats (0-1) are looking to get the season going in the right direction as they prepare to open up region play on Friday against Straughn (0-2).

“We really don’t know what we are going to see from Straughn,” Opp head coach Brent Hill said. “We do know that they are going to come in and play hard. The community is a lot like ours and they get really excited for games like this. We are both going to do everything we can to win.”

Hill said that the Bobcats would need to play hard in order to beat Straughn.

“The keys to this game are going to be physicality, win the line and no turnovers,” Hill said. “Special teams is also something that we have to improve. Last week, special teams really hurt us.”

Opp is 0-1 on the season after falling to Elba 53-33 last week.

“Last week we moved the ball well, but it wasn’t great,” Hill said. “The defense played well enough to win and the offense played well enough to win, but special teams and turnovers really hurt us.”

Hill said that they have been preparing for anything from the Tigers.

“We have prepared for an odd and an even front from them,” Hill said. “One game we’ve seen them run one thing and then we’ve heard that they were in another front the next game. On the defensive side, we know their offense wants to establish the run game. We know that we are going to have to be sound on both sides of the ball. Winning the line of scrimmage on both sides is going to be crucial. We also have to eliminate turnovers on offense and create turnovers on defense.”

The Bobcats have put in a lot of hard work this week at practice, Hill said.

“I’ve been very proud of them this week,” Hill said. “It’s tough losing the first game of the season, but the kids came in on Monday ready to work. For such a young team, we saw some things that we liked last week. They never back down. We were in that game, now we have to finish a game. We have to learn from our mistakes and move on.”

Straughn leads the series with a 10-8 record, but Opp has won the past three games between the rival schools.

Opp and Straughn are scheduled for a 7 p.m., kickoff on Friday in Straughn.