HANCEVILLE — When Hanceville steps foot on its home field Friday night, there will be more on its mind than just a Week 1 contest versus county-rival Fairview.

Sure, the Bulldogs have happy thoughts of doling out serious revenge following last season’s 27-12 loss to the Aggies.

And yes, they’d certainly like to reverse a recent trend that’s seen the Fighting George Redding’s claim five wins in the past six meetings.

Above all else, however, Hanceville would like nothing more than for every single player on its roster to improve following a 14-0 loss against Corner and a 14-7 defeat at the hands of New Hope during a three-team jamboree last Saturday.

That step begins in just a couple of days inside Ray Talley Stadium.

“There’s absolutely no shortage of things to work on coming out from our jamboree,” coach Danny Miller said. “We did things we can’t do for us to win football games. But we had a great practice on Monday, and I think the guys are starting to understand what needs to be done to get a little bit better each day.”

In order to do just that and potentially earn a season-opening triumph, the Bulldogs will have to be on their toes against a Fairview offense that has shown considerable improvement since the spring.

Running backs Austin Harris and Logan Brooks lead a fine two-headed backfield, while quarterback Ragan Ashley has myriad talent prepared to haul in big catches in the passing game.

It’ll be up to the likes of Kaine Yates, Jose Orozco, Isaac Weissend and others to make sure the Aggie offense doesn’t find its rhythm.

“We made a lot of mistakes last year,” Weissend said. “If we aren’t out there making them this Friday, I think we’ll be all right. We just want for us to get better. There’s a little more to it, being Fairview and all, though. You always want to win those county games for sure.”

Hanceville raced out to a 6-0 lead last August before ultimately coming up short thanks in large part to those “mistakes.”

Of course, some of that has to do with Redding’s offense.

“The thing about George and those guys is this — they make you have to defend the whole field,” Miller said. “They are going to stretch you so much and make you make plays in space. They do a really nice job with that and getting it to their playmakers.”

Hanceville isn’t without its own weapons, though, as Branen Hurst and B.J. Smalls make up an ever-improving backfield with Orozco, Weissend and Andrew Alldredge also providing some firepower.

Alldredge, who plays a little bit of everything for Miller, was a wideout and cornerback for Fairview during his freshman year before transferring to Hanceville, where he’s spent the past two seasons with the Bulldogs.

As a senior, Alldredge is hoping to go out with a bang starting Friday.

“Nothing better than beating the rival school at home,” he said. “I just really like that we play a county squad first game. I know lots of guys on their team. Weaknesses. Strengths. I think we’ll be better prepared when we go out there this time.”

The one thing he and Hanceville can’t do, however, is lose focus.

Especially if things turn south quickly.

“They aren’t one of those teams you want to get into a hole against,” Miller said. “It’s tough to match them point for point.”

His players couldn’t agree more.

“If they jump out on us with their offense, we don’t need to lay down our heads,” Alldredge said. “That’s for sure. And we won’t. We’ll try to fight back and get that win.”

Despite what the scoreboard says following Friday’s game, Miller just hopes to see his players become more and more comfortable with what he’s trying to teach and instill in them.

Discipline. Assignment football. Passion.

Accomplish those goals, and the wins will come in short order.

“It’s probably good we aren’t starting with a region game, but I wouldn’t mind playing someone a little less talented than Fairview, too,” Miller said with a laugh. “George does good work out there. It’ll be a good measuring stick for us. 3A versus 5A. With the exception of a game or two, it’s been highly competitive over the years.”