WEST POINT — Ryder Jones has learned just as much from West Point’s losses the last three weeks as he has from the team’s first five wins to start the season.

The biggest lesson came in the Warriors’ fourth-quarter reversal against Russellville earlier this month. The Maroon and White led by nine late before suffering breakdowns in all three phases en route to a 26-22 defeat.

Unlike that particular game, Jones knows West Point’s season must close on a much stronger note. If the Warriors want to clinch the fourth and final postseason spot in Class 5A, Region 8, they’ll have to get by Lawrence County Friday in a playoff atmosphere that’ll be compounded by homecoming night.

“This is the chance to be the first West Point team ever to be in the 5A playoffs,” Jones said. “It means a lot to us and this team and the coaching staff. It’s a really big deal.”

Added fellow senior defensive end Trent Campbell: “I’ve went my whole high school career, all four years, not made a playoff game. I’d like to see one.”

At this point, the Warriors’ ability to give their surplus of upperclassmen the postseason experience is solely in their hands. As coach Don Farley so bluntly put it following last week’s loss to East Limestone, the difference between victory and defeat versus the Red Devils is the “playoffs or basketball season.”

Even though Jones is one of West Point’s several football standouts who’ll soon shift to the gymnasium, he’s all for delaying the start of round ball as long as possible.

“My dad’s the coach, but we ain’t ready for it yet,” Jones said. “We want to keep going.”

The two programs that’ll take to Warrior Field for Friday’s must-win showdown are strikingly similar.

At 5-3 (3-3), West Point and Lawrence County have already secured their best showings since relatively recent rises to 5A. Both only have losses to the three teams ahead of them in the region standings, and both rely heavily on senior-laden rosters.

The Warriors and Red Devils have swapped opponents the past two weeks with coincidentally comparable results. West Point fell 26-22 to Russellville and 31-7 to East Limestone, while Lawrence County dropped 21-13 and 41-7 contests to the same two foes.

The Red Devils took a 7-6 lead into halftime last Friday at Russellville but topped out on offense with one interception in the third quarter and another two in the fourth.

Those miscues surely have the Warrior secondary licking its collective chops. Will Wrenn, who Farley called a “dadgum ball hawk,” has at least a handful of picks this fall, and Blake Yearwood added one last week.

“I think we’ll get enough pressure on them up front, and when they start making bad throws, our secondary is going to be all over it,” Campbell said. “We have confidence in our secondary, and they have confidence in us.”

Jones stressed the importance of tackling and also placed an emphasis on winning the turnover battle. Just the other day, he heard Alabama coach Nick Saban discuss how much the latter affects a team’s chances to succeed, and “if he thinks it’s important, I’m pretty sure it’s important to us, too.”

West Point’s competitive region schedule has come at a price. Farley said Lance Ray broke his hand in last week’s game, relegating the two-way threat to a sideline already occupied by injured seniors Ryan Dye and Delton Cooke.

On a positive note, the Warriors should have the services of Bryant Farley for Friday’s showdown. West Point’s offense didn’t move the chains again after the fourth-year quarterback took a lick and was forced to exit just before halftime.

The coach said Farley is “good to go” and, “push come to shove, could’ve went back in the second half” last week. Instead, freshman Kolton Easterwood received his first extended playing time on the varsity stage.

“I tell our guys, ‘You’re one play away from your number being called,’” coach Farley said. “’You’ve got to be ready for it.’”

Campbell and several other Warriors could be seen at practice sporting hard-to-miss mohawks to try and change things up for homecoming. Some went one step further, styling “WP” into the shortly trimmed side of their heads.

And there stood Jones, donning his usual hairdo — but not by choice.

“I wasn’t allowed to because I have senior pictures coming up,” he said with a sly smile.

Hairstyles aside, Farley has a feeling Friday’s decider will come down to what his players leave on the field, not their heads.

“We still haven’t played our best game, and that’s what we’re searching for,” the coach said. “It’s the same team that started out 5-0. Their confidence is there. They know what’s at stake.”