TIFTON — After a week of rest, Fitzgerald will be back on the field Friday to resume the second half of the 2018 football season. At Jaycee Stadium, the Purple Hurricane will take on the invading Worth County Rams. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.

Fitzgerald saw its record drop to 3-2 in its last game, a 28-9 loss at Dodge County. Worth, which went 0-10 a year ago, comes into the battle with something not experienced in the city of Sylvester since November 2016: a winning streak.

Worth shook off a 15-game losing skid in its last game (Sept. 14) with a 22-16 victory over Macon’s Rutland High. Now, they will be looking to make winning not just an occurrence but a habit. Fitzgerald head coach Tucker Pruitt said the Rams had offensive sets that were difficult to stop.

Head coach Frankie Carroll employs a Wing T as Worth’s main formation on offense. The Wing T is heavily geared towards running and relies on misdirection. Though the Rams ran a spread offense last year, Pruitt said the Wing T is more in their wheelhouse.

“It’s hard to stop them,” he said. Pruitt said Worth can easily pick up 3-4 yards per attempt, which he said may not look like much, but gets the job done and keeps the first down sticks moving.

Two of the Rams’ touchdowns in the Rutland win came from Nieheghm Thorpe and Tevin Thrower. Thrower also ran for a two-point conversion. Earlier in the season against Tift County the duo combined for over 100 yards of offense.

“They’re much improved,” said Pruitt.

In the meantime, the Fitzgerald mentor is working on his own team.

“We haven’t played very well,” he said.

Against Dodge, the Hurricane lost multiple turnovers and Pruitt said they came up empty on three trips inside the 3 yard line. Dodge led 21-0 after a quarter. “Our biggest challenge is us,” he said.

Defensively, games have gone much better for Fitzgerald. Pruitt said they were “playing better” and the Dodge County score should have been much uglier than it was if not for efforts on that side of the ball. Among the Hurricane’s tallies was a safety, occurring when an Indians player was tackled in the end zone.

On top of those struggles, quarterback Justin Reliford is still banged up. Kody Krause, who has been splitting snaps with Reliford is expected to see even more action. Pruitt said Krause is very versatile, able to play cornerback, safety, receiver and quarterback.

“Kody’s smart,” said Pruitt. “He’s athletic, he’s tough.”

Worth County is Fitzgerald’s last non-region challenge of the season. The conference schedule will get going next week when 1-AA opponent Berrien invades. Berrien (4-1) travels to arch-rival Cook Friday night.