The Poplarville Hornets are setting their sights on this week’s matchup against the D’Iberville Warriors after a close loss last week to the Jefferson Davis County Jaguars 13-6.

Last week’s game saw Poplarville’s defense lock down the Jaguars while the offense tried to find some rhythm.

Head Coach Jay Beech said inexperience might have played a part in the struggles offensively.

New running backs, position shifts and a new starting quarterback were all hurdles the Hornets tried to overcome last week, which means this week the unit will have to focus on execution to make sure more points are scored against D’Iberville.

“We showed signs of inexperience. In our offense you have to have 11 people executing at a high level. Friday night it seemed like we had 10 guys executing on any given play, and then had one guy just not executing well. It seemed like a different guy each play would made a mistake,” Beech said.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for Poplarville though as the defense played well and the offense was able to provide some bright spots during the close game.

Improving execution, both individually and as a team, will be emphasized this week in practice and Beech said he’s hoping the work the team puts in will pay off with a win Friday night.

“We had a few bright spots and had a few kids play really well, then we had some areas we need to really improve on. There’s a lot of room to improve and hopefully we’re a different team this Friday,” Beech said.

Blocking and tackling, two of the main pillars of football, will also be an area Poplarville hones in on while preparing for the Warriors.

The game will take place on the high school campus at the Hornets’ own stadium after playing last Friday at Pearl River Community College.

COVID-19 restrictions will still be in place like social distancing, a face mask requirement for entry and a cap on attendance at 25 percent capacity.

Even with all of the new guidelines and protocols, Beech said just getting back on the field and having a season of any kind is worth it. “We’re just really thankful that we get to play. We appreciate the fact that we get to play, thank the Lord and everyone involved that’s allowing us to play. It’ll feel good to be back in our stadium,” Beech said.

The game against D’Iberville will take place Sept. 11 with kickoff set for 7 p.m.