Tigers try to get on track

After suffering their most disappointing loss of the season, the Graceville Tigers will look to get back on track Friday night against Rocky Bayou.

The Tigers (1-6, 0-2 in district play) host the winless Knights for Homecoming at 7 p.m., and should be able to get the sour taste of last week’s loss out of their system.

Graceville was eliminated from postseason contention with a 42-6 loss to Jefferson County last week.

It’s the first time GHS has not made the playoffs since 2004.

Graceville coach Todd Wertenberger said his team is not happy to be out of the playoff mix, but the Tigers will still look to finish the season strong.

“It’s Homecoming week and everyone is feeling good about that,” the coach said. “Rocky Bayou should be a bounce-back game for us.

“We need to finish the season for pride if nothing else. We need to see what kind of team we have, how we’re going to react to this situation. We could decide to just give up, or we could bounce back and finish the season strong. Hopefully, we’ll respond to the bell and get up and play.”

Friday’s game should be a great opportunity for the Tigers to get well.

The Knights are a second-year football program that hasn’t been competitive at any point this season.

Jefferson County defeated Rocky Bayou 71-2, and Cottondale took a 56-16 win over the Knights last week.

“They’re struggling real hard,” Wertenberger said of the Knights. “That’s part of the challenge, that the kids know how easy a game it is, so that makes it more difficult to get them up for it. Hopefully, they’ll get up and play.”

It’s a game in which the Tigers should be able to get all of its reserves ample field action, but Wertenberger said the goal was just to get the win and move on.

“We want to win the game, obviously,” the coach said. “But they’re way down this year and we don’t want to abuse them and their kids either. We’ll try to win the game for sure, but we’re not out there to have a scoring fest either.

“(Rocky Bayou coach John Reaves) is a good guy and they’ve got a good team over there, it’s just their second year of football. We won’t try to humiliate anyone.”

After Friday night’s game, the Tigers will finish the season with a pair of rivalry games against Cottondale Nov. 6 at home and Chipley Nov. 13 on the road.