It may not count in the record books, but the Pleasant Home Eagles and the Florala Wildcats plan to treat tonight’s preseason game in Florala as if it were the real deal.

“We want to see how our kids are going to react to live fire,” first-year Florala head coach Scott Mason said. “This is a game that we are going to treat just like we would any other game.”

Mason said it was important to treat it like a real game to really see where they stand as a team.

“I just want to see good execution,” Mason said. “We are going to use this game to gauge how far along we are. It’s one thing to beat up on each other every day, but it’s completely different when you are out there with an unknown opponent. I want to see how we react to live action.”

Pleasant Home first-year head coach Richard Mercer had similar feelings about tonight’s preseason match up.

“We just want to stick to the basics and see if we can execute,” Mercer said. “I want to see us play hard and execute our fundamental plays. We will look at film the morning after and use that to get better.”

Building up to the game, Mason said he has been pleased with what he has seen from his team.

“We have been making strides, but I’m ready to see how we react to live action,” Mason said. “I’ve been pleased with attitude and effort. It’s just hard to be sure of anything until you see live fire.”

Mercer said that the Eagles have been going hard at practice.

“This is the third week of fall practice and we are still treating it like fall camp,” Mercer said. “Tuesday was the last day that we are treating it like fall camp, and now we will get into treating it like we would any practice during the season.”

The Wildcats have also been installing a new offense this season and the kids are buying into it, Mason said.

“They are still coming in every day eager to learn,” Mason said. “They are excited and really having fun with the new system. These are things they see college teams running on Saturdays, and it’s been really fun for them to learn a cutting edge system. At practice, there is no downtime and everything remains upbeat and moving at all times.”

Mason said he isn’t worried about winning or losing the game, but wants to his kids give it everything they have.

“I’m not really concerned about winning or losing,” Mason said. “I just want to see execution. I just want to see everyone doing their jobs on every play. If we can get 11 guys at a time to do that, we are going to be successful. Sure we want to perform well and give the crowd a thrill, but I’m more concerned about getting out there and doing what we are supposed to do on every play.”

Mercer said he would like to be ahead on the scoreboard when the game ends, but said he just wants to see proper execution.

“Anytime you play, you want to win and this isn’t really any different,” Mercer said. “I really just want to see us being in the right places and doing what we are supposed to do. It’s really just a chance for us to get under the lights and get our feet wet. I’m glad we are just playing a preseason game and this gives up something to watch on film.”

Florala and Pleasant Home will kickoff at 7 tonight at Florala High School.