THUMBS UP — Oak Glen’s Tyler Mozingo and the Golden Bears close the regular season tonight hosting Roane County. - Michael D. McElwain

NEW MANCHESTER — The Oak Glen football team has faced a daunting schedule this season, but the Golden Bears are looking to end the season on a high note.

That, however, will not be easy as 8-1 Roane County makes the trip north from Spencer this week as the Raiders and Golden Bears are set to meet a 7 p.m. tonight up at the Bears Den.

The Raiders won their first eight games of the season, however, Roane County enters this week fresh off a 47-26 loss to North Marion last Friday night at home.

“They suffered their frst loss,” Oak Glen (1-8) head coach Doug Taylor said. “I’m sure they are not happy about that. They are 8-1. They are ranked in the state. They definitely want to get back on the right side of things.

“They are a very good team. I have known Coach Burdette for 10-12 years. He has been at it for a while. He has that program in pretty good shape.”

On the other hand, the Golden Bears enter this week’s matchup coming off a bye. The last time the Bears took the field was two weeks ago when Cameron shut out Oak Glen, 35-0, on the road down at Dragon Field.

“We cut back on practice,” Taylor said. “We practiced three days. We had some fun. We had what we call the Senior Olympics. We had a punt, pass and kick competition. We wanted to loosen things up.

“We’re back at it now. This week is very important. It is our senior’s last game, and we definitely want to put our best foot forward.”

This season, Roane County has defeated Shady Spring (35-20), Lincoln County (34-6), Clay County (42-19), Lewis County (34-0), Poca (48-19), Ripley (42-6), Braxton County (54-7) and Mingo Central (25-0).

“Offensively, they don’t do anything fancy,” Taylor said. “They are a power team. They have three running backs, and they want to get north and south. They have a scat back, who is able to get to the outside. The other guys are power backs. They have good size. They are a force to be reckoned with.

“We are going to have to come up with a way to deal with their size. We can’t battle them straight up. We are going to have to use slants and stunts. We are going to have to try and do different things to negate their size advantage.”

The Raiders have good size on both lines.

“They have good size,” Taylor said. “One defensive tackle is 280, and the other defensive tackle is 265. They have the size advantage.

“We are not going to be able to run between the tackles. They do a good job of neutralizing that. We are going to have to get to the edge. We are also going to have to be able to throw the football.

“North Marion had success throwing the football. That is not something we have done this year.

“Our quarterback got hurt against Cameron. We were down to our third string, but he will be back this week. We are going to try and get on the perimeter, and we are going to try and throw the football.”

Roane County changes its defense based on what the offense is doing.

“They play defense based on what you show them,” Taylor said. “If you have two tight ends, they are going to move guys into the box. They like to play man coverage. Their inside linebackers stop the run.

“When a team plays man, crossing routes and rub routes can be effective. We are looking to exploit some things.”

For the Golden Bears, the seniors are looking forward to play in front of their home fans one final time.

“They have put in a lot of hard work,” Taylor said. “This is their last game. Our win-loss record is not where we want it to be, but this game does have value. It is their last game. We are going to do everything possible to put them in the best position to win.”

Oak Glen has played eight teams this season that are .500 or better, including seven teams with a winning record. Weir (9-1), St. Marys (8-1), Edison (7-4), Toronto (9-2), East Liverpool (6-5), Cameron (8-1) and Roane County all are above. 500 on the season. Brooke ended the regular season at 5-5.

“Looking at our schedule, I think there are eight teams who will make the playoffs in Ohio and West Virginia,” Taylor said. “The schedule is made in advance, but our kids have not given up.”

The Bears have improved throughout the season.

“The seniors have seen both sides of it,” Taylor said. “We have not had a lot of success, but there were things we weren’t able to do at the beginning of the year that we are able to do now. We have improved a lot. We are able to do things now that we weren’t able to do in Week 1.”

The Raiders enter this week in third place in the West Virginia Class AA playoff rankings, while Weir is in fifth place.

Roane County defeated Oak Glen, 49-14, last season at home.

The Golden Bears defeated Roane County, 28-20, back in 2011 on the road in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs.