Can LaGrange beat Troup once again?

Some games are easier than others to shrug off and put in the rearview mirror.

And then there are the losses that stick, the ones that keep you awake at night wondering what went wrong.

Such was the case for the LaGrange Grangers last week.

In a game to determine the Region 2-AAA championship, the Grangers could never get things in gear, and they were blanked 24-0 by Carver.

What figured to be a classic matchup between two teams hopeful of winning a state title turned into a mismatch.

“The Carver game was over Thursday, and that helped a little bit,” LaGrange head coach Steve Pardue said. “It gave us another day to get over that a little bit.”

Of course, there’s also the little matter of having the Troup Tigers to prepare for that helped the players and coaches put the Carver game behind them.

LaGrange will put the wraps on its regular season when it plays Troup at 7:30 p.m. at Callaway Stadium.

“We know it’s a big game,” Pardue said. “We know what this game is.”

The game will have no bearing on the playoff position of either team.

Win or lose, LaGrange will be the No. 2 seed from Region 2-AAA, and it will host Region 1-AAA’s No. 3 seed next week.

Troup is the No. 4 seed, and it will visit Region 1 champion Cairo next week.

This is one of those “toss out the record” kind of games, though.

It means everything to the players.

The players from each team know each other well, and many of them are related.

“It’s always one of the biggest games of our high-school career,” said LaGrange senior linebacker Qua Huzzie, who is hoping to leave with a 4-0 record against Troup. “It’s always real physical.”

LaGrange had been rolling merrily along before last week’s setback.

After losing their opener to Newnan, the Grangers ripped off seven straight victories before running into the Carver buzzsaw.

Pardue said he’s been happy with how the players responded to the setback.

“Like I told the kids. You ought to be disappointed with how you played,” Pardue said. “I told them they had a choice after the game. You can mope around or come back. I think we’ve come back and had some good days of practice.”

Pardue believes one of the biggest challenges for his team tonight will be overcoming the size Troup has on the offensive and defensive lines.

Troup’s imposing defensive line has been dominant, and while the Tigers have struggled offensively, their offensive linemen led by Georgia-bound Chris Burnette are capable of opening some big holes.

“We know what’s ahead of us,” Pardue said. “We look at film, and we see how impressive they are on both lines of scrimmage.”

How well the Grangers deal with Troup’s defensive front could be a key.

LaGrange’s offense was unable to get on track a week ago against a Carver team that boasts an imposing group of defensive linemen and linebackers.

LaGrange quarterback Rodney Tolbert said the offensive players remain confident.

“You come up with a game plan, and you just go with it,” Tolbert said. “You wait for the coaches to come up with a good game plan, and we just buy in.”

Confident is definitely a problem for LaGrange’s defense that has been solid all season.

Against Carver, a couple of defensive breakdowns led to some big plays.

Eliminating those breakdowns has been a focus this week, linebackers coach Thomas Crocker said.

Crocker pointed to Carver’s first touchdown a week ago that came on a long touchdown run.

“We had it played pretty good, and then all of the sudden he hit the sideline and we had a bad angle,” Crocker said. “If one guy makes a mistake, it costs you. You have to limit the big plays.”