FERRIDAY — For the second week in a row, Ferriday football coach Chad Harkins will have experienced a first.

Last week marked his first game as head coach of the Trojans, and tonight will be his first home game at Ferriday.

And Harkins said he’s looking to make a lasting impression on the Trojan faithful.

“There’s a lot of tradition in Ferriday, and the fans are going to be packed in the stadium expecting a good showing from their Trojans, and that’s what we’ll give them,” Harkins said.

Ferriday will take on Block, which defeated Vidalia 18-6 in its season opener last week. Ferriday is coming off a 14-0 loss against Natchez High on the road last Friday.

Harkins said his team would have to contain Block’s speed, and that Block coach Benny Vault Jr. would have his team running the ball as much as he could.

“We coached together for a few years, and he’s really got them going over there. They’ve been in the playoffs the last few years, and it’s going to be a big challenge for us,” Harkins said.

“They like to run the ball. He likes to pound it in there, and he makes no beef about that. They’ll also hit you with a deep pass occasionally, so we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

Despite the fact that Harkins used to coach at Block, where he had Vault on staff as an assistant, Harkins said he has no feelings at all about going against his former assistant coach and school.

“It’s just a game we need to win, and we’re going to have to come out and get better,” he said.

Getting better is what the Trojans have been focusing on in practice this week, taking things from the game against Natchez that needed improvement and working on those things, Harkins said.

“Execution-wise, we have to get better. We’ve worked really hard in practice this week, so hopefully we can come out and have better execution,” Harkins said.

“I thought we played pretty well (last) Friday, we just have to get better execution-wise, because we’re going to have to put points on the board.”

But Harkins said he expected some early-season, and that he would rather they happen now than later in the season.

“I don’t think you’re going to hit on all cylinders in week one. We want to peak at the right time, when district games and the playoffs come around,” he said.

Kickoff takes place at 7 p.m. today.