The Ariton Purple Cats enter an important stretch of their schedule Friday night when they host Houston County in the first of back-to-back region games inside Robert F. Zumstien Stadium in Ariton.

The Purple Cats opened the season 0-2 with losses to Dale County and Goshen. They opened up region play last Friday night on the road against Geneva County. The Purple Cats picked up their first win of the season when they knocked off Geneva County 54-49.

They hope to continue the momentum gained from the win this Friday night when they host a Lions team that has also started the season with an 0-2 record. They opened the season with a 49-0 loss to Providence Christian. They lost to Daleville last week 44-13. Despite the slow start, head coach Steven Kilcrease knows they can’t take the Lions lightly.

“Houston County is a young team, but they have a lot of athletes on the field. They have gotten off to a rough start, but they have a good team. They have guys that can take it to the house on every play. We have to sort of manufacture a little. We have had some big plays, but that’s not us. This is a big game for us. It’s home and we need to take care of those and then we will worry about the next one.”

The Purple Cats defeated the Lions in Columbia last season 34-0.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.