At this point in the football season, many players are nursing injuries and trying their hardest to make it through the year.

For the Trinity Saints (5-3), they had the opportunity to gain valuable rest this past week with an open date, but head coach Zach Rogel also recognized a negative that could put his team back a step heading into Friday’s game.

“It was kind of the best of both worlds,” Rogel said of the week off. “We got some good rest, but we fell behind the eight-ball with conditioning.”

This part of the season also puts a lot of pressure on teams, especially teams with a small number of players like Trinity.

“This time of year brings a lot of different things,” Rogel said. “Two weeks ago, the kids were getting worn down. Having less than 20 kids, we have kids going both ways and people start talking about basketball. Basketball will be there, we want to finish what we started.”

The Saints will take on Acadiana Home School (4-5) and Rogel said he doesn’t know too much about the Commandos.

“We don’t have as much as we would with a regular team with them being a home school,” Rogel said. “We’ve got some film, and they show a lot of different things there. There schedule and results send mixed messages.”

Although the opponent may not be as good, Rogel doesn’t want his team to overlook them.

“We won’t overlook them, and this week we are working on Trinity Saint football,” he said. “We need to polish up things.”

Trinity is coming off a rough 40-2 loss at River Oaks two weeks ago, but Rogel isn’t worried about that affecting his team this week.

“We have a 24-hour rule,” he said. “Of course, we were upset, but we know we played a pretty good AA team. All of our goals and what we want to accomplish is in the future.”

Quarterback Kevontaye Caston struggled in the loss, but will be looking to bounce back this week and continue the breakout season he is having.

“It is all about learning,” said Rogel of Caston’s performance. “The good thing is we can go and sit down and watch film. It is going to happen, though, with a 15-year-old kid that hasn’t played quarterback.”

Rogel said a win this week would be big for his team, which is looking to gain a head of steam heading into the postseason.

“It has been three weeks since we got a win,” Rogel said. “A win would definitely carry the momentum and get us fired up. That is our ultimate goal.”

Trinity and Acadiana Home School are scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.