TIPTON - The Tipton Cardinals are looking for their second win in a row as they get set to face the Cole Camp Bluebirds.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Cole Camp.
Tipton (3-2) is coming off of a 50-6 win last Friday against Lone Jack. Cole Camp (1-4) is coming off of a 24-14 loss to Wellington-Napoleon.
Tipton coach Tony Braby said after the big win last week, the Cardinals cannot get too far ahead of themselves.
"It is kind of the old tradition of, 'OK, I give you 24 to 48 hours of enjoyment and thinking about it, but come Monday we've got to focus on Cole Camp," Braby said. "It is always good to have some momentum and it is always good to have a big win, but you can't fall into a false sense of, 'Hey, all the games are going to be this easy.'"
Despite the Bluebirds' record, Braby said Cole Camp has always played Tipton close. Cole Camp has won seven of its last eight meetings against Tipton.
"Cole Camp has always played us well; we are kind of a big rival and they always play very hard, very physical against us," Braby said. "Even when we had our great year we still played them close. We know that we've got to really execute and have a good game plan and hopefully we can build off the Homecoming win with a chance to be in the game in the fourth quarter."
Both Tipton and Cole Camp are members of the West Central Conference in football. They are in the Kaysinger Conference in all other sports.
Braby noted this year the Bluebirds have a younger team.
"They graduated 11 to 13 seniors, and I don't know if they all started at different times or not, but they are back going with some youth," he said. "Some sophomores are playing for them, freshmen here and there, and so they are not a veteran type of squad like they have been in the past.
"They are building towards the future and like any young football team they are going to have some hiccups and some ups and downs and some learning curves when it comes to varsity football."
The running game has worked well for the Cardinals this season.
"The outside sweep game, we have exceptional skill players that do very good on perimeter blocking and we got really good speed for Class 1 and not just between the starters but the two guys that come in behind them," Braby said. "I think we just wear down defenses chasing us all the time, and when they get use to going after the sweeps, then we come back with a little bit of a reverse counter back away from the motion and that seems to catch them off guard."
Braby said Cole Camp runs the ball very hard on offense and will also use the play-action pass. He added the Bluebirds have an aggressive, stout and physical defense.
"We are going to have to play well," Braby said. "Like I said, Cole Camp is a solid football team. They don't make a lot of mistakes and they don't turn the ball over, and if you get in the situation where you are making mistakes and you are turning the ball over, you are going to hand them the game, there is no doubt."
Going into the game, Braby said the offense is going to have keep drives going and avoid three-and-outs. Special teams will also be important in the game.
"Field position is going to be big," Braby said. "Special teams will be another aspect of it. We about gave up a long touchdown on a kickoff return last week, but we were able to tackle him before he got in and the held them out."
The Cardinals also want to avoid turning the ball over.
"We don't want to have turnovers and we are hoping that we can take some away," Braby said. "Just basic football and not making mistakes."