It took a while for Highland Home to get its footing last Friday night. The team lost to New Brockton 28-20.

“We got in a hole early in the first quarter and couldn’t get out,” said head coach Claude Giddens. “To New Brockton’s credit, they played good defense and we had a hard time moving the ball.”

Before Friday’s game, Giddens had seen improvement in his Squadron’s defense. He discovered a few holes at New Brockton.

“On the first two possessions, we didn’t play defense like I thought we had been,” Giddens said. “But we finally began to settle down.”

Highland Home had one bright spot on defense, Giddens said defensive lineman Nathaniel Hebert played a great game.

Quarterback Tayvyon Fuller threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Payton Frazier and an 18-yard pass to Jalen Clayton.

Fuller ran the last touchdown in and then ran the extra two.

The team walked away from the regional game with a close loss (28-20) and a list of tactics to improve.

“You can’t make as many mistakes as we did, both offensively and defensively. We’ve got to cut down on procedure penalties,” Giddens said.

The Squadron started this week with two successful practices. Giddens said his goal was to have the team execute better, improve special teams and cut down on procedure penalties.

“The boys are doing what we ask them to do and it hurts them to get beat. It hurts our coaches when we get beat,” Giddens said. “And I just want to see us improve.”

The Flying Squadron will host Calhoun at Friday’s homecoming.