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RICHMOND -- The Edison football team is looking to bounce back this week in its home opener.
The Wildcats face a tough test as Edison takes on Cameron at 7 p.m. Friday at home at the Edison Unified Sports Complex.
Edison enters this week's game fresh off of a 42-40 loss to Shenandoah last week on the road.
"The difference was defensively we did no tackle well," Edison (0-1) head coach Mike Collopy said. "Their quarterback hurt us with his legs. Some where by design and some were on broken plays. We just did not execute.
"We could not get off the field on third down. They converted some fourth downs. We gave up some big plays in the first half and that put us behind the 8 ball.
"We battled back. I'm proud of the kids for that. There are no medals for effort. There's just wins and losses.
"I don't think I did a good enough job. Offensively, when you score points, you should win. I think I didn't do a good enough job defensively. I let our team. I have to get better."
This week's game will be the second of the season for the Wildcats, while it will be the season opener for the Dragons.
"Not really," Collopy said asked if either team had an advantage based on playing or not playing last week. "You play the schedule you play. I doesn't matter if we play them in Week 8 or if we play them tomorrow. We have to improve, and we have to get better.
"It starts at practice. We identified what we need to work on. We had a good practice today, but we need to have a better practice tomorrow. We have to improve throughout the week."
Cameron enters this season coming off on a 10-2 campaign, however, the boys from Marshall County lost some key players from last year's team.
Junior Kason Angel will get the start at quarterback for the visitors. Angel replaces Colson Wichterman, who was a four-year starter at quarterback.
"They have a lot of athletes," Collopy said. "He (Angel) is a really-good athlete. He's a good quarterback. I have a lot of respect for Coach (Tim) Brown. We saw them in a scrimmage. He's poised. He's a talented quarterback. He's a dual threat.
"They have a big tailback (Klypsan Wallace). He is a downhill runner. They have another guy they like to put into the backfield. He's a slot receiver, but he will run some.
"They are well coached. They're physical. They're fundamentally sound. They're physical and aggressive on defense.
"They like to do different things. They have some dynamic athletes, and they try to get the ball to them.
"For us, we have to line up properly. We have to know our assignments. We have to be where we are supposed to be. We have to read our keys. We have to be fundamentally sound.
"You do it in practice, but if you don't do it in games, you something is wrong. It comes down to the way you are coached. It is not working. We have to get better."
Wallace ran for more than 1,000 last season.
"They like to mix it up," Collopy said. "I don't know what the exact percentages are. They have some nice wideouts. Angel is a good quarterback. He can run and throw. Wallace is a good tailback. It is not clear what you have to do to shut them down. They can do both."
The Wildcats and Dragons will be dealing with the heat all week including on Friday night.
"We had a great practice," Collopy said Monday's session. "I liked it. I don't know if the kids liked it. It is going to be hot all week. It is going to be hot on Friday. It was hot in June and July.
"Last week was different. It was like a fall week. It was like 70 to mid 70s. It was close to 90 today. It is going to be around 90 Friday.
"We have to make sure the kids are hydrated.
"I think we are in really good shape. We take conditioning seriously. You have to make sure the kids are drinking water and stuff."
Collopy and the coaching staff have come up with a game plan to try and defeat the Dragons.
"Monday is when you input it," Collopy said about the game plan. "You have reps Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, the hay is in the burn. Friday, you hope everything carries over.
"You never walk into a game and see everything you prepared for. You have to adjust on the fly. We have to get after it. We have to play physical."