Lake Oconee Academy lost its first game of the season, 37-24, against Landmark Christian two weeks ago.
The Titans held an early 14-0 lead, but multiple turnovers and penalties caused the game to fall into the hands of the War Eagles.
Following a bye week, LOA has a chance to get back in the win column with its first region opponent coming to town. The Titans (5-1) will host Washington-Wilkes (3-3) at home this Friday.
“Having that split between region and non-region is going to help us.” Lake Oconee Academy head coach Patrick Stewart said. We’ll have two weeks to prepare for Washington-Wilkes, and I think that’s a really big benefit for us.”
The Tigers started the season 0-2, with losses to Hephzibah and Harlem. However, they defeated Oglethorpe County, McCormick (South Carolina), and Butler before losing to Mount Paran Christian last week. They and the Titans enter this contest after having a bye last week.
This will be the first matchup between the two schools in LOA football history, and Stewart is excited.
“I think we’ve got a great plan going into Washington-Wilkes,” Stewart said. “They’re a great team and do a lot of things really well,” Stewart said. They have a lot of good athletes.”
The Titans are making a push for their first playoff berth ever, and starting strong in region play against the Tigers would be huge.
“With the region we’re in, the team with the fewest mistakes is usually going to pull it out,” Stewart said.
Mistakes and poor tackling plagued the team against Landmark Christian, so fixing those shortcomings has been prioritized.
“In practice, we’ve just worked on ourselves, going through fundamentals and correcting mistakes,” Stewart said. “The goal is always to win, but I think we can always continue to get better.”
After two weeks off, Lake Oconee Academy is ready to return to the field.
“Our hearts and minds are in the right place, and now we’ve just got to execute,” Stewart said.
LOA has a chance to make a statement in its first season of playing a region schedule, and knocking off the Tigers is the first step.
The Titans are set to return to Tucker Field this Friday and are eager to kick off region play with a matchup against Washington-Wilkes.
“Going into region play, it’s going to be all about effort and execution,” Stewart said. “It’s going to be a really good game for us.”