Ferriday High School coach Dwight Woods said he can’t quite put his finger on what went wrong with his squad during the first half of last week’s 34-22 loss at Wilkinson County High School.

The Trojans (2-2) were outscored 26-8 in the first 24 minutes, before rebounding to outscore the Wildcats in the second half.

“I’m not sure (what happened),” Woods said. “We just came out flat.”

Ferriday will look to get off to a faster start Friday when it travels to take on Washington-Marion (0-4) High School and former FHS coach Freddie Harrison.

“I think we’ve been playing a lot better in practice this week,” Woods said. “We’re familiar with the coach. He knows the kids, and the kids know him, so the kids will be excited.”

While Woods may be perplexed as to his team’s early-game struggles, the second-year coach said the team’s fans in the stands may compound the issue.

“We don’t really have a crowd that supports us,” he said. “They kind of help take the momentum away from us; they take the air out of the kids. I can take it when they attack me, but when you attack the kids, that when you’re playing a whole different ball game.”

Woods said the key to Friday night’s tilt is start strong and establish its rushing attack.

“I think we have a good game plan in place,” Woods said. “We’re ready for them. We have a few injuries, but we have most of our players back again this week.”