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Straughn (1-2, 1-0 4A Region 2) will look to keep momentum on its side and bid for its second straight region win at home against Dale County (1-2, 0-1) on Friday, Sept. 13, at 7 p.m.

This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams since they first played in the 2004 season. The Tigers lead the all-time series 5-2 over the Warriors.

“Dale County will be a well-coached team, having played them a few times in the past. They have some guys with some tremendous athletic ability and some big guys on their offensive and defensive lines. They present a bunch of different formations offensively, so we have to be on point when getting lined up this week on defense,” Head Coach Garrett Windham said. “Coach (Evan) Ballard and his staff do a great job of getting their guys ready, so we will have to play well. We’re excited for another region matchup this week.”

Last week, Straughn hosted Daleville and earned a 14-0 shutout. Dale County was also home but fell short to Ashford, 14-6, in another defensive struggle.

Windham added that he thought his team did good things in the home opener but felt some areas still need to be worked on.

“We played with great effort, and I thought we did a good job of controlling the lines of scrimmage. We had three or four other opportunities to put points on the board and ended up shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties in the red zone. We have to clean that up moving forward and can’t have negative plays inside our own 20-yard line. Overall, there was improvement across the board, but we should have finished a few more of our drives offensively. The defense played lights out the whole night and flew around and played with great effort.”

Although Windham was grateful to earn his first career victory over Daleville, he said the focus shifts to Dale County.

“We enjoyed the win and celebrated it, but we also have to try and do the same thing week after week. It was really neat being at home and coming out of the tunnel, having my family there, and singing in the locker room after the game. At the same time, this is a new week and opponent. We have to set our focus on them,” he said.

The Tigers edged the Warriors, 21-18, on the road in their last matchup during the 2021 season.