TIFTON, Ga. — Turner County head coach Leroy Hood considers Friday night’s game at Taylor County a must win. Though the Vikings will only count towards Turner’s power ratings, Hood has a litany of reasons for believing this game to be a big one for his program.

Taylor County, who will be at Hobby Field for this 7:30 p.m. game, is the Rebels’ last before their first bye week.

“We definitely want to get this one Friday,” said Hood. “We don’t want to be sitting on a loss for two weeks.”

Also, for as well as Turner played against a tough Cook team last week, the Rebels were up 13-3 and left Adel with a 16-13 loss. Hood said he and his players “still have a sour taste in our mouth” over the result.

The loss dropped Turner to 1-1 on the season. This week’s opponent, Taylor County, is 0-1. Taylor lost its season opener last week, but it was by a 34-20 score to Manchester, a school in the upper echelons of the Class A public schools’ hierarchy.

Clearly, a test for the young Rebels.

What Hood said about Taylor County’s offensive sets may be pretty surprising. He said the Vikings were even more ground-oriented than a year ago. In 2017, Taylor had Lyn-J Dixon in the backfield. Dixon, now at Clemson, averaged nine yards per carry.

Hood said the Vikings used a double wing and wing-based schemes, akin to Worth County and Cook.

“They’re a solid team,” he said of the Vikings. “Definitely one of the better teams in Class A.”

Quarterbacking Taylor County is Jabin Ford. His highlights might remind Turner fans of their former quarterback, Tyler Moore.

Hood said Ford was “pretty good.” He also used “elusive” to describe him. Ford scrambled for a long touchdown and passed to Tommoreyea Troutman for another.

Though Cook did not end as well as Turner wished, at least one thing has cleared up: the quarterback situation.

“We’re going to go with Demarcus Barnes,” Hood said. “He’s won the job.”

Barnes was credited with 158 yards against the Hornets. He had a 56-yard touchdown pass to Trent Henderson and two other throws that covered more than 50 yards. There is one problem with Barnes quarterbacking; he is one of Turner’s best defenders. Hood will do what he can to relieve him on the other side of the ball.

Barnes was additionally the Rebels’ leading rusher, with one touchdown and a total of 38 yards. Aerian Stephens added 28 yards. Henderson was the squad’s leading receiver, with three catches for 74 yards.