In week nine of the season, W.S. Neal (5-2)  will face the Satsuma Gators (3-4) at home in a region game matchup.

W.S. Neal is coming off a loss last week to Thomasville and Satsuma is coming off a 35-19 win against Cottage Hill Christian.

The two teams played each other last year with Neal winning 47-21.

Neal had a lot of success running the ball against the Satsuma defense. Malcolm Hawthorne rushed for 238 yards and five touchdowns. Quentin Samuel rushed for 150 yards and one touchdown.

WSN head coach Doug Hoehn says his team can’t be its own worst enemy.

“We have to play smart football,” Hoehn said. “We have got to hang on to the ball and don’t get behind the chains. Last Friday penalties killed us. We had 135 penalty yards. We can’t afford to do that this week. [Satsuma] is going to show up to play.”

Defensively, the Eagles will have to face a Gator offense that last week was led by junior running back Nick Kritner.

Kritner rushed for 251 yards on 18 carries for three touchdowns. Those three touchdown runs were 32, 60 and 50 yard plays. Satsuma is outscoring opponents 185-166 this season.

On defense Hoehn says his team has to be ready for the pass and run. [Kritner] is a good running back,” Hoehn said. “They got a good quarterback to throw the ball too.

“They stay pretty balanced on offense. We have to be able to handle both sides,” he said.

Neal and Satsuma are tied in the region at 2-2.

Kickoff is at Buddy Taylor Field at 7 p.m.