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The Tigers continued their increasingly impressive season last Friday night, shutting out Central Hayneville 43-0.

Head coach Scott Rials played well, and the score gave his staff the opportunity to sub in younger players.

“Our kids played hard, we had a great first half and were up 29-0 at halftime. We’re glad to get another regional win, and we just try to get better at every little thing every game. We had a few penalties and a couple turnovers that we will need to work on, but defensively we played really well and kept them to around 45 yards,” he said.

On Friday, the Tigers will travel across the county to take on the Brantley Bulldogs in the annual, usually ferocious rivalry game.

According to the Alabama High School Football Historical Society, the two in-county rivals have faced off a staggering 85 times, with the recording currently standing at 53-29-3 in Luverne’s favor.

Rials explained that rivalry games are unique and require a coaching staff to harness the hype and energy of their players at the right times.

“I talked to our players [on Tuesday] and told them- the game is on Friday night. You can’t be amped up and waste all your energy on Wednesday. We just have to work through the week and be ready to roll out on Friday night.”

Rials said Brantley have a stronger passing game than many teams the Tigers face, so practice hours have been spent preparing for that threat.

Brantley are currently 3-1 following a tough loss to Georgiana last Friday, while Luverne are 4-0 and leading their region.

The game starts at 7 p.m. and will be in Brantley.