NATCHEZ — Natchez High got no favors from its football game schedulers this season.

The Bulldogs faced No. 4-ranked Meridian High in Region 3-5A action this past Friday, and will now travel to the No. 2 team in 5A, Oak Grove, which just happens to also be in their region.

Natchez (2-2) fell to the Wildcats, 36-10, in its first region game of the season, trailing by 19 points at the end of the first quarter and by 33 points at halftime.

“Last week we didn’t have a good performance. We were disappointed in our effort,” said Natchez coach Lance Reed. “This week we’re back at it again, trying to come out and put on a better performance.”

Reed hopes for that improvement against a team that reached the Class 5A state quarterfinals this past season.

Click the following link for the Democrat Sports Watch’s preview of the Oct. 3, 2008 prep football games, featuring Huntington, Trinity and Vidalia. Watch Democrat Sports Watch now.

The Warriors (5-0) lost three all-state players, but returned 64 lettermen to the team.

“They’re a spread offense, no-huddle team (like Meridian),” he said. “They’ll run the ball and they can pass, so they’re pretty balanced. We have to be ready for both the pass and the run.”

Reed said he plans to use this game as a measuring stick for the Bulldogs’ improvement and to gauge their outlook for the rest of the season.

He said practice this week has been focused on getting back to basics.

“We wanted to simplify what we wanted to do,” he said. “We need to get good at some of the things we’ve been doing rather than doing anything that was too new or too confusing.”

The Bulldogs, Reed said, have not lost their confidence after two-straight defeats and still feel they can play with anyone.

But if they want to stop Oak Grove’s attack, they will have to start early and start aggressively.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to play a really good team,” he said. “We’re going to have to slow them down and get them off balance on their offense, and we have to maintain drives on our offensive side and score when we have the opportunities.”