MEADVILLE — This time last week, Franklin County was coming off a huge win against Loyd Star.

The tables have turned a bit for the Bulldogs this week, as they’re heading into the third week of the season following a disappointing 20-7 loss to Brookhaven last Friday.

Whether the team’s coming off a win or loss, though, head coach Ricky O’Quinn said his players need to put the memories of the previous game behind them.

“It’s cliché, but we tell our kids, ‘One game at a time,’” O’Quinn said.

“I told them Friday that, whether they won or lost, we were focused on effort and intensity, and them playing every play like it was their last. If we do that, even if we lose, we know we’ll do well in district play.

“Don’t get me wrong, we want to win every game we play. That’s how we coach. We have to find a way to rebound after a loss and bounce back. These are good kids, so we expect them to do just that.”

This week marks the first road game of the season for Franklin County, as it travels to McComb to face McComb High School at 7:30 Friday night.

“They have a bunch of athletes, and they’re a pretty good football team. We’re going to have to play our best game to beat them,” O’Quinn said.

“They’re 2-0, and they’ve beaten some quality opponents, so we’re going to have our work cut out for us.”

O’Quinn said McComb’s offense likes to give its opponents multiple looks.

“Their quarterback makes things go for them. If we can slow him down, we may have a chance. They run multiple looks, but mainly the veer option, from what we’ve seen on film,” he said.

With it being the Bulldogs’ first road game, O’Quinn said it would be a good test to see if his young team can stand up to the challenge of playing well in an opponent’s stadium.

“I feel like we let a game slip away last Friday that we could have made more competitive, if not won it, but that’s hindsight,” O’Quinn said.

“We have to focus. We started this thing trying to win a 5A state championship, and I feel like our kids understand that now. They’ll find out more about themselves playing on the road, and coming off a loss. We’ll see if we can fight back if we get down early.”

And O’Quinn said the coaches would be looking forward to see his players respond to these challenges.

“The coaches are excited to see what kind of players we have, and we think we have some good guys who will go out there and fight.”