ADRIAN -- With three consecutive losses, the Adrian Dragons are in a situation they haven't been accustomed to in recent years.
"Some of these kids have played a lot of football over the years and they have won a lot of games, so it's a little different approach than the games we've had before," Adrian head coach Randy Strand said. "It's still high school football, you strap it up and you get back and bang heads and you see how you do."
The Dragons (3-4), fresh off a 48-13 loss to Dawson-Boyd, will host Murray County Central (1-6) tonight in a Little Sioux Conference football contest.
"The way we've been playing lately, we should make it an interesting game," Strand said. "We haven't really been blocking or tackling very well lately. We need to get things worked out because we want to be going into the playoffs on a high note."
Adrian is looking to secure a home playoff game with a victory.
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"Right now we know we need a win to get a home playoff game," Strand said. "We always like playing at home, but I don't know of any teams that don't. But you're going in the right direction again going into the playoffs. It gets you going into that first playoff game with a little better mindset."
MCC on the other hand, is also looking for a victory to gain some momentum.
"(MCC head coach Chris Davis) has opened it up a little bit from past years, and they have some very good athletes," Strand said. "I know they've taken on a few injuries, but I don't think any team is the same as when they started the year."
While Adrian is coming off three consecutive losses, the Dragons will still rely on their running game, led by Jesse Brake.
"Jesse has been doing real well this year; he's been one of the bright things right now," Strand said. "We're not going to do anything differently. I like to run, run, pass, punt and stay away from the last two."
After winning three of their first four games, Adrian suffered setbacks against Minneota (19-14), T-M-B (30-6) and D-B.
"Against Tracy we felt pretty good," Strand said. "We had a few injuries that kind of put us in a wrench the day before. But Dawson-Boyd kind of manhandled us. It's not something that we wanted to happen at that time.
"At one time we felt that we were 3-1 or 3-2 and we were one or two plays away from being 5-0. But that kind of left our thinking right now and we're kind of reeling right now."
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Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
In a game for first place in the Little Sioux Conference, Minnesota (7-0, No. 1 in Class A) will travel to face Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (7-0, No. 4 in Class AA) in a matchup of two teams that are rated in the top 10.
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (2-5) travels to Fulda (2-5) in another conference contest.
In the Southwest Conference, Windom (1-6, 0-5) will travel to Pipestone Area (1-6, 0-5) in a contest between two teams looking for their first conference victory.
Luverne (6-1, 5-0) looks to wrap up the conference championship at Redwood Valley (4-3, 3-2).
In the Southern Confederacy Conference, Edgerton (6-1) travels to Madelia (0-7), while Hills-Beaver Creek/Ellsworth looks to rebound after last week's loss to Westbrook-Walnut Grove. The Patriots will travel to Truman (2-5) tonight.
The Chargers (6-1) are hoping to keep the momentum going tonight when Nicollet (3-4) comes to town.
In the Southern Minnesota Conference, Southwestern United (3-4, 2-2) is at Renville County West (4-3, 2-2), while Springfield (4-3, 3-1) travels to Red Rock Central (1-6, 1-3). Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin (0-7, 0-4) is at Wabasso (5-2, 4-0).
