FERRIDAY — As the Huntington Hounds go into the final three games of what has turned out to be a very disappointing 2009 season, coach Chad Harkins has one particular goal in mind — survival.

“We’re just trying to survive,” Harkins said. “That’s basically it.”

An extremely youthful and inexperienced Hounds team has struggled to a 1-7 record so far, including a 31-8 loss last Friday to a previously winless CENLA Christian team.

“When we line up 13 and 14-year olds against 17 and 18-year olds, it doesn’t equal out to a good evening for us,” Harkins said.

This week, the Hounds will face another struggling team, as they travel to Farmerville, La., to take on a 1-5 Union Christian team in its first year of existence.

“They haven’t had a football team until this year,” Harkins said. “They’ve got a big fullback and they like to run the ball.”

A win would be a major salve to Huntington’s wounds as Harkins says the goal of the team now is to get the young players experience.

“We’re trying to get them some experience for years to come,” Harkins said. “It’s tough, but I think they understand we’re young. We understand that. It is what it is.”

But even with a very inexperienced team, every loss hurts just the same for a coach and program that isn’t used to losing recently.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re young, old or in between,” Harkins said. “Losing ain’t easy for anybody. It’s been a difficult time. We haven’t been used to losing like this in the last few years. Our kids were hoping for better. But we’ll keep going.”