The Troup Tigers are rested and ready to chase their first win.

After a tough 21-14 loss to Newnan in a game they led 14-0 through three quarters, the Tigers didn’t have a game last week.

The Tigers will get back at it Friday night when they travel to Douglasville to take on the Alexander Cougars in the first Region 5-AAAA game for either team.

Alexander, which like Troup is 0-3, was also off last week as it got ready for the start of region play.

“I fully expect them to be ready to play ball,” Troup head coach Lynn Kendall said of Alexander. “They do a lot of good things.”

It has been tough going for the Cougars, though.

They were competitive in their first game, a 34-28 loss to Bremen, but they lost to McIntosh 21-6 and Carver-Atlanta 28-6 the next two weeks.

Troup is also winless, but it is coming off a fine performance against Newnan.

The Tigers dominated the action for much of the night, but Newnan scored 21 points in about a four-minute span in the fourth quarter to steal one away.

An interception and a fumbled kickoff return helped the Cougars score a couple of quick touchdowns in that game.

Before the fourth-quarter turnaround, Troup had controlled the action on both sides of the ball.

“We definitely think we improved as a football team against Newnan,” Kendall said. “These guys started believing in each other, and believing in themselves, and that’s huge. Hopefully we can carry that momentum into region.”

The Tigers moved the ball well in the game with their power running attack.

Daryl Dunlap has become a strong running back who rarely goes down on first contact, and Lemonta Truitt and Ricky Frazier are also running the ball well.

Against Newnan, Troup moved the ball well with an offense that often featured three backs lined up behind quarterback Will Smith.

“That’s the type of ball we like,” Kendall said. “We’ll throw it, but we want to run the football. That’s the mindset we’re in. That’s our goal. We have about three backs that are carrying the ball, and their carries are pretty balanced out.”

As for the off week, Kendall said it was productive.

Some players who have been banged up got a chance to rest, and some younger players got an opportunity to get more reps in practice than they do during a game week.

“We had a chance to work in some younger guys,” Kendall said. “It was a good week. It gave us an opportunity to do a lot of different things.”