The Straughn Tigers are eager to show their improvements as they prepare to start the 2018 season.

“We’ve got a lot of guys coming back from last year,” Straughn head football coach John Higgins said. “We’ve gotten a lot stronger in the weight room so we are excited about what we are going to see out here on Friday nights.”

Higgins said that his players have been fired up to start fall practice.

“It’s been great,” Higgins said. “I think the young men are very interested in turning this program back to where it was. I think they are very excited about the opportunity. We as coaches are just glad to watch them. We are going to be the ones that push them, but we are counting on them to push themselves.”

Coming into fall practice, Higgins said he wants the team to focus on being physical.

“We are going to be phsyical,” Higgins said. “We are going to learn to be physical and that is going to be our trademark. That’s just something we are going to work on everyday and that’s going to be part of what we do in our practice plans. When we go out there on Friday night, we may win we may lose, but we want to be the most physical team out there.”

Higgins said that the Tigers have been focused on learning a new offensive system.

“We’ve changed our offense a little bit,” Higgins said. “Right now, our biggest goal is to learn the offense to the degree that we can execute it properly. That’s what we are excited about. We are running was a New Mexico Zeer. It’s half zone and half veer. We are going to use three backs in the backfield. We will have two upbacks and then we will be in a pistol set.”

Straughn opens the season at home on Aug. 24 against Headland.