Block High School will be looking for its first win of the season when the Bears play host to the LaSalle High School Tigers in the LHSAA District 3-1A opener for both teams at 7 p.m. Friday.

This will also be Block’s homecoming game.

The Northwood-Lena game was originally scheduled to be Block’s homecoming opponent next week, but that game was moved from next Oct. 14 to Oct. 13.

“LaSalle always has good talent. They’re well-coached. (Head coach) Derek White is a good friend of mine. He knows what he’s doing,” Sproles said.

Block’s defense could have its hands full trying to stop LaSalle’s spread offense. Defensively, the Tigers will run either a four-front or a five-front.

Sproles said that LaSalle has been plagued by injuries just like the Bears have in recent weeks. Block will be without quarterback Zorian Bowie, who Sproles said broke his leg Sunday night during homecoming festivities.

As for the key match-up to watch, Sproles said, “our defense against their offense should be fun. We’ve been doing a good job stopping the deep ball. If we could tackle better, we would have a couple of wins by now. We’re just not tackling well. That and stupid penalties are what are killing us.”

Sproles said that if his team plays like it did against Mangham a few weeks ago, Block could go 5-0 in district.

“Mangham was probably our best game to date. I’m just tired of the blowouts and the kids giving up,” he said. “We’ve just got to play a full game and play with heart.”

Delhi Charter at Sicily Island

Sicily Island head football coach Curtis Shavers hopes that the Tigers not only have a good performance on both sides of the ball, but get their first win of the 2016 season.

However, that will not be an easy task as Sicily Island plays host to the Delhi Charter School Gators at 7 p.m. Friday in an LHSAA District 2-1A match-up.

Shavers said he is more concerned about his team than Delhi Charter.

“I’m worried about what we need to improve on and what we need to do,” he said. “Until we get better at some fundamentals, we’re going to end up with the same results. We need better tackling on defense, executing better and blocking better on offense.”

Shavers noted that Delhi Charter’s team is similar to Tensas High School.

“They have a few skill players at the skill positions who are fast. Defensively, they have good linemen and linebackers. I don’t think they’re as physical as Oak Grove, but I think they pose a big problem for us,” he said.

Shavers said in order for the Tigers to upset the Gators, the offense has to execute effectively, and the defense has to stop the run.