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The Lafayette Christian football team was humbled last week after a 3-0 start to the season as the Cougars fell behind early and could never mount a comeback in a 30-22 loss to Unity Christian. The team has a chance to get back to winning ways with their region opener on the road to Central Christian on Friday night.

“We went up there and everybody was happy that we were 3-0 and all that and a bag of chips.” LCS coach Jarred Pike said. “We started off slow against a good team, and could not dig ourselves out of that hole.”

The Cougars were lethargic to start the game and by the time it was at halftime they were in a 24-0 hole. It was the kind of start the Cougars cannot repeat as the games become even more important as the team heads into region play.

“We have to find a way to start games a little better,” Pike said. “I think it will be a good learning experience for us.

“It is better to have a game like that now instead of during region play or later in the season.”

Central Christian, like the Cougars, are 3-1 on the season. The Crusaders were able to mount a comeback to beat Unity earlier this season and will represent a tough task on Friday night.

“They were down 22-0 at halftime of that game and came back to win,” Pike said. “They are not going to quit and they are not going to roll over.”

The only loss on the season for the Crusaders came in their season opener against Vidalia Heritage Academy 66-40.

Central has a high powered offense that has scored at least 40 points in every game this season. The Cougars defense on the other hand has two games this season in which they have allowed just six points and have not let a team score more than 30 on them all season.

One of these will give on Friday night.

Despite stumbling out of the gates to start the game last week, Pike was happy with his team’s response last week as the Cougars were able to cut the deficit to one score in the second half.

“I was happy with the way the guys responded, but I wish it didn’t have to be like that,” Pike said. “There was no quit in them and they were making the right plays late in the game.”

Unsurprisingly, the Cougar offense will continue to center around Ephraim Snyder, who is averaging nearly 200 yards rushing per game and already has double-digit touchdowns this year. 

“You can expect a lot of ground and pound against these guys,” Pike said. “We are pretty dominant running the ball, and even though we lost last week we rushed for over 200 yards.”

Lafayette Christian is also relying on the leadership of their star senior. 

“Ephraim had a powwow after Monday’s practice and talked about how he had to step up as a leader and how other guys need to step up as well,” Pike said. 

Pike wants to see his time get off the bus with an edge on Friday, something he believes the team lacks sometimes at practice. 

“Yesterday we had a guy hit someone and then apologize for it,” Pike said. “I have to keep telling them to quit being so nice.

“I feel like sometimes we don’t want to go up there and come across as some mean, angry team. It’s football, you have to have a little edge.”

The game is set to kickoff in Coweta County at 7:30 p.m.