Coming off of a late game letdown against the T.R. Miller Tigers, the Escambia County Blue Devils turn their attention to the team’s first region game of 2011.

The Blue Devils (0-1, 0-0) travel to Mobile on Saturday to take on the B.C. Rain Red Raiders (0-1, 0-0) who fell 52-7 to the St. Paul’s Saints last week.

For Escambia County, the game against B.C. Rain takes on a whole new level of importance in terms of getting a win.

“First of all, we are now into our region schedule,” Blue Devils head football coach Mark Heaton said. “This is a game where wins and losses affect your ability to reach the playoffs. We’ve got an extra day of preparation this week, which we will use to evaluate film and get our kids healthy after a physical game against T.R. Miller. It’s a game where if we sharpen up and correct our mistakes then we can win.”

Even with his team playing a more competitive game, Heaton is not overlooking his opponent.

Losing to St. Paul’s is nothing to be disappointed in, Heaton said.

“St. Paul’s is one of the top 5A teams in the state,” he said. “They looked very sharp, but B.C. Rain looked organized and looked they played hard all four quarters. They are a scary football team because if they ever begin clicking on all cylinders then be competitive against any team they play.”

To prepare for this week’s game, the Blue Devils will put in more repititions for their defense.

By consistenly working on problems facing the defense, the Blue Devils should fix their mistakes, Heaton said.

“I think that we over ran some stuff in the running game last week on defense,” he said, “That just requires more reps and more need in those areas. We need to work on tackling on the inside shoulder, so we don’t get shaken off. In the passing game, we just made some mistakes on assignments. We are going to work on more situations with some live action. That should help correct any issues we have.”

In order to pick up a win this week, the Blue Devils must focus on cutting down on costly mistakes.

Taking out turnovers and penalties will put ECHS in a good place to pick up a win, Heaton said.

“Eliminate turnovers and pre-snap penalties,” he said. “We must move the ball early offensively in the first half. On defense, we need to establish three and outs early.”

Following the loss to T.R. Miller, the Blue Devils have been beaten in four straight contests dating back to last season’s playoff loss to Bibb County.

While only two of those games have counted, it is making the Blue Devils hungry to win, Heaton said.

“Our kids are hungry for a win,” he said. “We lost to Bibb County in the playoffs, Daphne in the spring, Linden and now T.R. MIller. We are hungry to get our first win.”

The Blue Devils and Red Raiders kick off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.