For the third time this season, the Block High School Bears will be playing a Thursday night game that was originally scheduled for a Friday night.

Block and Northwood-Lena’s game was pushed up a day becuase of a lack of referees available, Block coach Bo Sproles said.

Tonight’s tilt is a pivotal one for both squads as both Block (0-6, 0-1) and Northwood-Lena (0-6, 0-1) enter attempting to notch their first win of the year.

Despite piling up 536 yards rushing last week, the Bears fell to LaSalle High School, 45-18. Nothwood-Lena, meanwhile, lost 45-0 to undefeated Logansport High School, one of the top teams in Class 1A.

“We’re 0-6 and ranked No. 22 in the state, so that shows how tough our schedule is,” Sproles said. “We’re not too banged up. Last week, we didn’t have our starting quarterback and our No. 1 running back had to play quarterback. But he couldn’t plant his foot because he has a broken ankle.”

Northwood-Lena runs a double-wing offense, similar to that of Block’s, but they will also operate out of the power-I, Sproles said.

“You don’t know what you’re looking for. We’re going to try to do some different stuff. We’re going to try to move some kids around,” he said.

Sproles said that with so many young players on the roster, his squad will have to remain focused and tackle better than it did last week against LaSalle.

“Hopefully that comes together with a good offensive performance,” he said. “We’ve got to do better in the kicking game. It’s just hard to put it together from week to week. It’s hard to plan from day to day. Sometimes it shows good and sometimes it shows bad.”

Sproles added that his team will have to play tougher than the Gators, and that a win will go a long way in creating momentum on the Bears’ side for the rest of the year.