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FERRIDAY — Ferriday High School’s varsity football team will not only seek to avenge last year’s tough road loss to Bastrop High School last year, but the Trojans will also look to bounce back after two agonizing losses on the road to start the 2023 season.

And they are poised to do both in their home opener at Melz Field Friday night. Kickoff between the LHSAA Class 3A Bastrop High School Rams (1-1) and the Class 2A Trojans (0-2) is slated for 7 p.m.

Last year at Bastrop High School, the Rams held on in a shootout over the Trojans 46-40. That would be the last win of the 2022 season for Bastrop as they embark on a seven-game losing streak to finish 2-9 overall and 0-6 in District 1-3A. Meanwhile, the Trojans did overcome that loss to start 2-0 in District 2-2A. Then they would lose their final five games to go 2-8 overall and 2-4 in district play and miss the Class 2A Playoffs.

Ferriday lost at Class 3A Richwood High School 20-18 on Friday, Sept. 1 and then nearly came back from a 26-6 deficit at Class 4A Peabody Magnet High School last Friday night, only to lose to the Warhorses 32-22.

“It’s one of them things. We don’t like to lose. Nobody likes to lose,” Ferriday head coach Cleothis Cummings III said. “We’re focusing on the important stuff so the kids can be successful. It also builds some kind of motivation to get better. I think if we come and play in the first two quarters the way we do the final two quarters, we could be 2-0. But the kids have to understand they have the capabilities to compete with anyone in the state.”

As to what the Trojans are working on in practice this week to get ready for Bastrop, Cumming said, “Just working on the little things, especially ball security. We dropped some balls last week. Just Football 101. Blocking. Tackling. You’ve just got to focus on getting better.”

Cummings said that the Rams’ athleticism is what concerns him the most about the opposition on each side of the ball.

“They’ve got a real good quarterback. He’s smart. He’s intelligent. He’s well-coached. He did a lot of good things that kept them in the game last year. He looks to scramble as he throws the ball. That’s something we have to keep an eye on,” Cummings said. “Defensively, they’re long and athletic. We’re going to have to counter their athleticism with technical football. Just being sound.”

Ferriday will look to have a big game on offense from quarterback Dorian Taylor as well as running backs C.J. Reed and Taevion Edwards.

“Our receivers, they’ve got to step up. All of them. They have to catch and run. The timing has to be in line. If we can (Reed and Edwards) to go in the run game, that would be huge,” Cummings said. “Defensively, we’ve got to be disciplined. Matching up, recognizing formations. If we can do that, understanding what’s coming out of the formations, we’re going to be pretty good.”

Cummings said he would also like to see more togetherness, teamwork and uplifting from the Trojans. He added that the one thing he does not want to see is selfishness. He noted that can tear a team apart before it gets together.