ARDMORE—Preparing for the biggest game of the season usually isn’t an easy task, especially if it’s the first game of the season. But both Ardmore Coach Tracy Malone and Elkmont Coach Don Jacobs have been pleased with what they’ve seen from their players this week.

“I have been very pleased with practice this week,” Malone said. “The tempo has been excellent and the players have really been fired up, but that’s to be expected this week. The rain affected us a little bit Monday. We went into the gym, but we tend to get a lot accomplished when we go inside. We went in full gear and the guys were popping each other around pretty good. I think how well you work inside is completely the attitude you take.”

Malone’s biggest concern going into tonight’s game is the big crowd and the first game jitters. He said in order for Ardmore to be successful they have to be ready defense and cut down the penalties on offense.

“Elkmont runs a lot of different sets,” Malone said. “We have to have our force alignments and be ready to read and react. They will give us some stuff we haven’t seen and we’ll have to adjust to it on the fly. Offensively, we can beat ourselves. In a big rivalry game like this, the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. We have to eliminate the penalties and turnovers to be efficient on offense.”

While the Tigers may be concerned with the different sets Elkmont will run, Jacobs said their focus this week has been on stopping them.

“That’s the toughest thing,” Jacobs said. “We had a chance to win it last year but lost it in the fourth quarter. So stopping them is our number one goal. They’ve got some weapons, we’ve just got to corral them all at one time. Hopefully we’ll be able to take our chances on offense.”

One thing both teams haven’t seen a shortage of this week has been excitement.

“I’ve seen a little more pep in their step everyday,” Jacobs said. “I just hope they save some of it for the game.”

Malone agreed that the game is huge for both communities.

“It’s almost like a mini-iron bowl for our two communities,” Malone said. “In the sense of bragging rights and pride, it doesn’t get any bigger for either school. Most of our guys dad’s played in this game, so it’s a big deal for both communities.”