Some barbecue enthusiasts say what lies in the delectable flavor that comes from meat-off-the-bone ribs is in the rub.

But, what makes the rub so great?

The proper ingredients.

Straughn coach Trent Taylor said the main ingredient in tonight’s home contest against Opp will be to maintain a level of “consistency” on offense and defense.

“The biggest thing for us is to be consistent on both sides of the ball,” Taylor said.

The fourth-ranked Tigers (4-0, 3-0 in Class 4A, Region 2) are coming off a close win over Hillcrest-Evergreen last week. Straughn won, 22-15.

This week, the Tigers will face the running game attack from the Bobcats in seniors Richard Davis and Quadir Kincaid.

Davis has compiled 511 yards on 77 carries and scored four touchdowns, while Kincaid has 135 yards on 25 carries this season.

When asked what the “keys” are on defense in trying to stop Davis and Kincaid, Taylor said it has to do with proper tackling technique.

“I think the biggest key would be to don’t miss tackles,” he said. “With that said, both of those kids run extremely hard — not only are they fast, they run hard.

“We pointed out again (Tuesday) the number of times they would have Richard wrapped up on a veer, and he’d spin and twist and get out of that tackle and go another four to five yards before somebody could get to him,” he said.

In last year’s contest, the Tigers were running their offense out of the shot gun formation. That formation changed after Straughn lost 20-7 to Opp because of snaps being thrown over the quarterback’s head, causing three turnovers.

“The thing that the Opp game did last year for us is that it made us knock each other upside the head and say we’ve got to get out of the gun (formation),” Taylor said. “Since that time, I don’t think we’ve taken a snap that wasn’t under center.”

Straughn is using the option offense attack this year, which allows senior quarterback Josh Dewrell to be at the helm of the offense.

The Tigers will be facing a Bobcat defense that has allowed only 35 points this season.

Taylor said getting the lead early isn’t quite as important as playing a “complete game” against Opp (2-2) tonight.

“Obviously, the advantage goes to the team that can get an early lead,” he said. “That’s regardless of who you play.

“I think the biggest key for us is — and we’ve talked to our kids about this — I don’t think we’ve played a complete game on both sides of the ball this year,” he said. “And even when we’ve played well on offense and defense, we haven’t done it consistently for four quarters. We’re still looking for that game where we go out and execute on both sides of the ball. That’s a goal of ours going into this week, the next week and the one after that and so forth.”

Taylor said his players are fully aware of what they need to do to be successful.

“If you watch Opp on film, I’ll tell you, they do a lot of things very, very well,” he said. “Coach (Jack) Whigham and his whole staff does a great job over there. They’ve had some misfortunes in both of their losses, and have had opportunities they weren’t able to take advantage of. That doesn’t happen a whole lot.”

Kickoff in Straughn is at 7 p.m.