TIPTON - Another week, another tough opponent for the Tipton Cardinals.
The Cardinals (2-4) will head to Cole Camp today to take on the Bluebirds (4-2) for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Tipton (2-4) is coming off of a 42-12 loss to the Class 1 No. 8 Lincoln Cardinals last week, while Cole Camp (4-2) is coming off of a 34-14 loss to the Buffalo Bison.
The former Kaysiner Conference foes are meeting for the first time since Cole Camp joined the Ozark Highland Conference as a football-only member.
Tipton coach Tony Braby said if the team is going to rebound, they are going to have to play better defense against Cole Camp's passing game in addition to improving on its tackling. Braby added the Cardinals also need work on their own accuracy when passing on offense.
Braby said the Cardinals will work on being more consistent from game to game.
"You can't deviate a lot from your practice schedule. We've got to keep practicing and drilling and going over what we think we need to work on," he said.
"That's all the fundamentals of football and when it comes to game night you have to hope that the boys are having a good night. There is no guarantee but you can't just give up. You got to, as we say you got to keep chopping wood and keep working hard. We've got to keep our chins up and keep working."
In Cole Camp's last game, it gave up 262 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Buffalo. Braby said that the team is going to try to have that kind of success rushing the ball against Cole Camp but he knows it will be difficult.
"We played them in the Jamboree and we had some luck running against them," Braby said. "But typically, they are a pretty stingy run defense."
Braby also said this year's Tipton team can do more than just rely on the running game.
"Last year we did not have much of a game other than running and this year we are going to kind of take what the defense gives us," he said. "If they slow down the running game we are definitely going to try to throw it and vice versa."
Braby believes time of possession and limiting turnovers will be keys tonight for Tipton.
"You make too many mistakes against Cole Camp and you are going to get beat so we don't want to go in and be our own worst enemy. We don't want to beat ourselves," he said.
Tipton defeated Cole Camp 32-16 last season. In their last trip to Cole Camp, the Cardinals dropped a 49-14 decision to the Bluebirds in the 2016 season.
Cole Camp opened the season with victories against Concordia, Windsor and Warsaw. The Bluebirds lost to El Dorado Springs before defeating Sherwood. Cole Camp is 1-2 at home, 3-0 on the road.
Tipton enters tonight's game averaging 21 points per game and giving up an average of 34.5 to its opposition. Cole Camp is scoring 27 points per game while allowing an average of 14. The Bluebirds has two shutouts on defense.
Tipton enters the week fourth in the Class 1 District 5 standings. Cole Camp is currently second in the Class 1 District 4 standings, one spot behind Midway and one ahead of Lincoln.