FERRIDAY — Penalties and lack of mental focus haunted Ferriday High School last Friday against Vidalia High School, forcing the Trojans to come from behind in the second half to pull off a 34-24 win.

Ferriday head coach Freddie Harrison said he was disappointed in his team’s effort last Friday. Consequently, Harrison said his plan for practice this week is to get his players to refocus on doing the things necessary to be ready mentally on Friday nights.

“I think they learned three important lessons (against Vidalia),” Harrison said.

“First, I think they realize no one’s going to give you anything. Second, it isn’t over until it’s over — there’s always a second half. Third, you should always respect your opponent.”

Many might think it difficult to get players ready to play every week of the season, but Harrison is not one of those people.

“If everyone’s gunning for you, it’s not hard to get up,” Harrison said. “Those guys have to know the severity of what’s going on. When they’re just 17- to 18-year-old kids, you have to make it interesting and fun, because kids want to do kid things.”

Ferriday (2-1) will return home this Friday after two road games to host Wossman High School. Harrison said both his team and Wossman are similar in many ways.

“Two things they’re known for is they have speed, and they’re physical,” Harrison said. “They’re a mirror image of us (in that sense).

“We think it’ll be a really physical game with their big 6-foot-4, 250-pound running back. We’re going to have to be ready to hit with a big guy like that (coming at us).”

Establishing the run and playing physical is something Harrison expects out of his team every week. He said preparing mentally to play physical football is like going in to take a test.

“You studied, you just have to make sure you bring back what you studied,” Harrison said. “The kids already know the mindset. We want to establish that we’re the more physical team.

“We do that by hitting and being mentally focused and willing to hit. When you hit someone, it’s going to hurt you too, but you should feel good that you’re playing physical.”

When it comes to the players’ performances on the field, Harrison said there are two things he wants to be sure of.

“We have to make sure they go back to basic fundamentals, and that they don’t take it upon themselves to make adjustments and get away from the game plan,” Harrison said.