WOODVILLE — Wilkinson County Wildcats coach Elbert Lyles is pleased with the effort his team showed last Friday night against Natchez High.

But he is not happy with all the mistakes the team made that helped account for their 44-14 season-opening loss to the Bulldogs.

Lyles said those mistakes must be cleaned up if the Wildcats want to break an 18-game losing streak that dates back to week 2 of the 2007 season.

“We opened up the game with several costly mistakes,” Lyles said of last Friday’s game. “We had a punt blocked and a punt returned to the goal line. Those mistakes early caused us to go down 18-0 in the first quarter. We know we can’t continue to make those mistakes and get to where we need to go.”

The Wildcats will try to pick up their first win of the season on the road against Raymond.

The Rangers are 0-2 on the season, having lost to Port Gibson 16-6 and Terry 23-6.

“Raymond is usually a solid club,” Lyles said. “They have a running back who is pretty good that they rely on a lot. They also have a tight end they like to go to for their passing game. They’ve got good size, but we feel like we can match up with them.”

Lyles said he saw some positive things from his team last week, especially the way the Wildcats clawed back in the game after getting down 25-0 at halftime.

“I saw some good things from the offense and defense,” Lyles said. “But it came in spurts. We’ve got to put it together for an entire game. I feel good about what we are capable of doing.”

And should the Wildcats put four quarters together and eliminate some of their costly mistakes, Lyles thinks they can finally break that 18-game losing streak.

“I looked at the film and saw what we are capable of doing,” Lyles said. “I feel like if we can keep from making mistakes, our chances are pretty good.”