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WINTERSVILLE -- Friday night's match up between Indian Creek and Weir High is one that finds both teams desperate for a victory.
The host Redskins are coming off back-to-back losses to strong teams after beating Cambridge in Week 1, while Weir High has started 0-2 and seeks to get into the win column for the first time.
"We need to start concentrating on some of the little things that have prevented us from being very consistent on both sides of the ball," Indian Creek head coach Andrew Connor said. "I think we have to concentrate on the things you've done well.
And there have been things we've done well, not only just in our first game but the last two games. But we also have to realize that there are things that we need to improve on. And that is why you've got to practice every day is to make sure that you look at the things you're doing well and you continue to build off those and the things you're not doing well, you really got to focus in on those and try to correct those little by little each day."
Weir High coach Chris Hill, in his first season guiding the Red Riders, has seen a lot of the same things with his youthful group.
"We've been battling some good teams, both playoff teams last year," Hill said of Oak Glen and John Marshall. "We keep making small mistakes over and over again and they're really costing us. Our focus has been that we have to step back and be self-reflective and change whatever it is that we're doing that's not sinking in or isn't working and kind approach things a little bit differently right now. "
For the Red Riders, they know success on Friday night will be contingent on being able to slow down Creek senior tailback Bruce Mazar, one of the top backs in the area. He has 380 yards and five touchdowns in the first three games of the season, averaging over 8.6 yards per carry. He's also the Redskins leading receiver with five catches for another 101 yards and a score.
"They have got a good running back over there (Bruce Mazar), he runs hard and leads the way for them," Hill said. "This will be the third week in a row we face a really good back. I know Andrew Conner is going to have his kids ready to play.
Indian Creek's staple of their game has been running the football, playing stout defense and being very, very physical.
"No matter what the record is, I look for that from Indian Creek. I look for a very, very physical game from them."
While the results the first two weeks weren' what they hoped for, Hill and company have seen plenty of good things they can work with.
"I think right now we're on the verge of breaking through," Hill said. "We keep telling the kids, we're watching some of the plays against John Marshall where, you know, Zach Howland is running the ball really hard. Ryant Lyons is running the ball really hard, and we're getting four or five yards. And we tell them if we were just a little tighter wrapped, and if we were kicking and we were a little bit more into the hole, these plays go for 20, 30 yards. And the same thing defensively, we looked at our first few drives. We played extremely well defensively. I know the final score of that game was 42-7, but I think if you look at the first quarter and a half, our kids played extremely, extremely well.
"There were a lot of positives, a lot of things that we corrected from the previous week. You know, so we're hoping to just keep doing that and moving along, keep correcting mistakes.
"If we can start stacking some successes, I think that's going to go a long way for our kids' psyche."
Connor had a similar assessment of the Red Riders, pointing out they provide a lot of challenges and are headed in the right direction despite the tough start.
"They have played a couple of really good teams," Connor said of Weir High. "I think you can tell they have a new energy around Coach Hill. You can see that they are trying to build week to week. And you can see improvements in the first game to the second game, even from their scrimmages. I think it's a good football team that's just young and it's kind of getting into their groove and figuring out who they are as they move on here.
"I think one of the things that they have a quarterback (Ryant Lyons) who can throw and run," Connor added. "It's really hard to prepare for a dual threat and they have a few receivers that can make big plays and they're really big up front, both on their offensive and defensive lines.
"Defensively, they've got a lot of helmets for the ball. You can see that's something they must be emphasizing, a defense where everybody gets to the ball. You can see they're close to putting it together."
With two teams desperate for a win and coming off back-to-back losses, the veteran coach thinks the start Friday night will be pivotal.
"We preached that (Monday) at practice that a good start is going to go a long way," Connor said. "I know it's a cliche, coaches talk about it all the time, but man, when you are struggling to figure out who you are and you're struggling to kind of find that idea of consistency, a fast start would be absolutely what the doctor ordered just to try to get some momentum going, build off your enthusiasm. That would be so important for us this week to get off to that good start, both sides of the ball, even with special teams. Just feel good, get some energy, enthusiasm, get the crows into it and build from that."
Friday night is also homecoming night at Kettlewell Stadium.
"Homecoming week is always exciting, should be a big crowd with a lot of alumni back for it," Connor said. "Our job is to do our best to make sure that we kind of ride that momentum and that energy we're going to have inside the stadium and make it an exciting night."