Dallas County head football coach Marty Smith isn’t sugarcoating it — this week’s game versus Calera is a big one for his Hornets.

The last two seasons Dallas County has lost lopsided games against Calera, 43-18 in 2014 and 31-7 last year.

Smith didn’t think his team played well and he’s looking for a better performance this time around.

“I’ve had it circled because I felt like we have not played at a high level against Calera the two years that I’ve been here and in order for us to get over the hump in this region and over the hump in this program, we have to compete at a high level against programs like Calera that have been sound year in and year out,” Smith said.

Dallas County (0-1) made the playoffs last season, but has hopes of competing for a class 5A, region 4 championship this year. At the start of the season, Demopolis and Calera appear to be the teams to beat to claim the region title.

The Hornets want to put their name in the conversation and a win over Calera would do just that.

Calera (2-0) has started the season with impressive performances against Bibb County and Mae Jemison. The Eagles defeated Bibb County 49-34 last week.

Calera is coached by former University of Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow.

While Calera comes in with a lot of momentum, Dallas County is hoping to learn from a loss.

Smith said his players have responded well to last week’s 33-7 loss to McAdory. Dallas County trailed by only six in the closing minutes of the first half, but a Yellow Jackets drive and a Hornets’ turnover gave McAdory a 20-0 halftime lead.

“The guys realize what we’ve got to do to put ourselves in a position to be able to win the game,” Smith said. “They came in and said we are close and we understand what we’ve got to do. Sometimes you’ve got to learn how to lose to learn how to win. Last week’s loss hurt and it hurt deeply for a lot of our players. It was a positive thing as we’ve gone through this week.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday night.

 

Here’s a look at the rest of Friday’s local high school football schedule:

Aliceville (0-1) at Keith (1-1)

Keith scored 56 points last week in a rout over Calhoun, while Aliceville lost 20-0 to Gordo, the No. 2 ranked team in class 3A.

Aliceville was actually ranked No. 10 before last week’s loss, but now settles in as the first team outside of the 2A top 10.

This is the first class 2A, region 4 game of the year for both teams.

 

Tuscaloosa Academy (0-1) at Morgan Academy (1-1)

Both Morgan Academy and Tuscaloosa Academy look to get back on track this week.

Morgan couldn’t keep pace in a 42-6 loss at Marengo Academy last week. Tuscaloosa didn’t have better luck in a 54-32 loss to Autauga Academy.

Last year, the Senators scored the final 21 points of the game to stun Tuscaloosa in Selma 36-29.

 

Selma (0-1) at Bessemer City (1-1)

Following a tough loss to county rival Southside, the road doesn’t get any easier for Selma. The Saints will play at No. 9 Bessemer City Friday night.

The Purple Tigers lost 33-30 last week to Clay Chalkville, the top ranked team in 6A. Meanwhile, Selma lost to Southside for the first time since 2004, but had many chances to win. The Saints had the ball nine times inside the Panthers’ 22-yard line but only scored two touchdowns. Bessemer City won last season’s game 59-0 and also defeated Selma 28-21 in 2014.

 

Prattville Christian (1-1) at Southside (1-0)

Southside is coming off one of the school’s biggest wins in recent years — a 24-18 win over rival Selma. Southside’s challenge is to keep the momentum going from that win against Prattville Christian, a region opponent in class 3A.

In order to keep its sucess going, Southside will have to clean up seven turnovers from last week’s win.

Prattville Christian won its opener 28-21 over Thorsby but was shutout by Montgomery Catholic last week 32-0.

 

Highland Home (0-1) at Ellwood Christian (1-1)

Ellwood Christian knocked off Francis Marion 22-20 to earn its first win of the year last week. Highland Home lost to Luverne 20-0.

This is the first class 1A, region 3 game for both teams.