The Straughn Tigers have improved and are eager to get the season started on Friday when they host Headland.

“We had a good day of practice today,” Straughn head coach John Higgins said. “We watched some film and then went outside for a while. It was just a good mental day of practice. It’s like Yogi Berra said, ‘90 percent of this game is half mental.’”

Higgins said that the mental side of the game is what the Tigers need to improve.

“We have to work on our mental preperation,” Higgins said. “It’s the coaches’ responsibility to get the kids in that mindset. The kids have to pay attention to what’s going on.”

Headland is going to be a tough opponent, Higgins said.

“They are extremely big,” Higgins said. “They average between 260-270 pounds on the line on both sides of the ball. We are going to have to understand and play to our strengths.”

Even though Headland has a much bigger team, Higgins said he knows his team is capable of pulling out the win on Friday night.

“We have to cut down on penalties and turnovers,” Higgins said. “Last year, turnovers really cost us. We were negative 10 on turnovers last year and you aren’t going to beat anyone like that. We have been working on some things that we feel are going to work against their defense. We have a good offense and we should be able to move the ball and score on them.”

When Headland is on offense, they will rely heavily on their quarterback, Higgins said.

“Their No. 1 player is their quarterback,” Higgins said. “The ball will be in his hands 70 percent of the time. He is the key to their offense so we have to stop him in order to win. If we don’t, it’s going to be a long night.”

Higgins said he is looking for a good week of practice leading up to the game.

“If you want to win on Friday night,” Higgins said. “You have to win Monday through Thursday. There is no way around that.”

Straughn and Headland will start at 7 p.m., Friday in Straughn.