WOODVILLE — While Wilkinson County High School’s defense played well except for a couple of series, the offense sputtered and the result was a 12-0 loss on the road to the Greenwood Bulldogs last Friday night.

Now the Wildcats will have a chance to pick up their first win of the season – and first win since the end of the 2005 season – in their home opener Friday at 7 p.m. against the Class 2A Newton Tigers.

Newton won its season opener in convincing fashion as it defeated Williams-Sullivan 39-14.

“They have a pretty good team,” Wilkinson County head coach John Moore said. “They have a real good running attack. They run the double-wing and they run the power-I. They had some success with that against Williams-Sullivan.”

The Wildcats’ defense’s main task will be keeping Newton’s running backs, led by senior Brandon Gill, sophomore Kevin Harris and junior George Lee, between the tackles.

“They have good-sized backs,” Moore said. “The key will be for us to stop the sweeps, which is a big part of their offense. Don’t let them outside.”

Offensively, the Wildcats will spread the ball out and try to utilize their speed to counter the size of the Tigers’ defense.

“They played in a lot of inclement weather (last Friday night), so they played a lot of four- and six-man fronts. Basically a four-man front,” Moore said. “It’s going to be a balanced attack. We’re going to see if we can run to have a chance to open up the pass.”

Moore said everyone on both sides of the ball will have to pick up their game if the Wildcats are to defeat the Tigers.

“The quarterback, the backs and the offensive line. Defense, too. And our receivers. We dropped a couple of passes last week that were crucial.”