TIPTON - The Tipton Cardinals look to get back in the win column as they get ready to face the Crest Ridge Cougars at 7 p.m. tonight on the road.
Crest Ridge (5-3) is coming off of a 52-0 win against Lone Jack, while Tipton (3-5) coming off of a 55-20 loss to Windsor. It was the third loss in a row for Tipton.
Michael Buckner had 150 yards receiving and scored all three touchdowns last Friday for the Cardinals.
Tipton coach Tony Braby said with getting ready for this week, the Cardinals cannot turn the ball over so much.
"We had six turnovers, four of them led to Windsor scoring," Braby said. "So we are just continuing doing things we don't plan on doing. Whether it is fumbling or interceptions or giving up big plays type of deals. So why we are doing it I don't know; it is something that we definitely don't plan to do. We always try to correct anything that we do if we have an issue before that game. If we can clean that up it can make a big difference."
Braby said the Cardinals should have all of their players back this week. Tipton has missed some players due to injury or quarantine.
"We are just now starting to get healthy and getting everyone back," Braby said. "The team knows what we are capable of doing. We just have not had the same lineup week after week. So what some team might be watching on film, they might not see that same team come out and play against them. We are excited that we are going to have everyone back and it should make a difference and make things go a little bit smoother."
On offense, Braby said the Cardinals are going to try to get back to what they were doing when they were playing good football with their starters coming back.
"That is just the basic blocking on sweeps out on the perimeter," Braby said. "I think it has created some excitement with, 'Hey, everyone is back, things should go a lot better.' Just getting back to the old things.
"We go into a game plan with subs and we have to make the game plan a lot smaller and now we can go back and be a little more aggressive with our play calling, whether it be passing or doing things that we could not do with the subs. That is going to make a difference."
When it comes to defense, Braby said Tipton has to keep Crest Ridge's quarterback contained in the pocket.
"He is a good athlete and he can run. We don't want to get him outside the pocket and give him the option of run or pass," Braby said.
Braby said they also will have to be ready to stop the run and that they have to be aware of Crest Ridge's play-makers.
"They've got a running back that they are definitely not afraid to use 35 or 40 times a game. I have seen them run him six times in a row," Braby said. "That kind of helps us when we are trying to figure out what they are going to do on a certain play. If the quarterback likes to throw and this running back can run and they have a favorite wide receiver they like to throw to. So those are three big keys we are going to try take some things away from them.
"When we know who is basically going to run the ball, then we can line up and get more people in the box and keep eyes on him and kind of have a general idea on where the ball is going to go. If we can stop those three things I think we have a good shot of being competitive in the fourth quarter.