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Jefferson County opens up region play on Friday evening with a road trip to Science Hill, a team they haven’t beaten since 2017.

The Patriots are coming off a 41-21 dominating win over Sevier County. In the win, Jefferson County ran for 412 yards and improved on the physicality that coach Spencer Riley preached to them throughout the week.

For Riley, he felt his team was a lot better on the physicality part but still need to fix a few things to reach their potential.

“We made some tweaks in our run game just a little bit, and that kind of helped us out,”Riley said. “We were so much better at times with the physicality part. Disappointed with how we finished the ballgame after the lightning delay, so we need to work on finishing things off.

“When you’re able to demoralize a defense the way we did running the football, it’s always fun to do that. Hopefully it gives our kids some confidence to go out there on Friday and be as physical as were, if not more physical.”

Science Hill enters the contest with a 1-1 record, coming off a win over Anderson County last Friday. In the win, the Hilltoppers ran for 295 yards and scored three times. Baylor Necessary poses the biggest threat at running back.

“Offensively, they’re going to try and run the football at you,” Riley said. “They’re a very physical football team up front and have some really good skill cats. They do a good job with what they’ve got. They’ll formation you to death, so we have our job cut out for us defensively this week.”

At quarterback, Jaysahn Swartz returns. Against Anderson County, Swartz threw the game-winning pass.

“He does a really good job of running the offense and distributing the football,” Riley said. “They do a good job with what they have. And what they have is athletes and skill players running all over the place.”

Friday night’s game continues the tough stretch that the Patriots are on it. After Science Hill, Jefferson County returns home for another tough region matchup against Dobyns-Bennett.

For the Patriots, they know how important Friday night’s game is and how it can set the tone for the season. However, they also know there’s a lot of season left and are taking things one game at a time.

“I think they know that,” Riley said. “They know it’s the first region game, and it sets the tone. If you handle the first one, you have a little bit of wiggle room down the road. We’re just taking it one game at a time and going out here and compete and let the chips fall where they may.”

Kickoff for Friday night is set for 7 p.m. at Steve Spurrier Field.