After losing its first Region 7AAAAA (A) game last week at Creekview, Sequoyah will look to rebound on its home field tonight against North Springs.

Sequoyah coach James Teter feels a win is necessary if the Chiefs (2-3, 0-1) want to keep their hopes of a state playoff seed alive.

“After losing to Creekview last week, we are kind of in a hole as far as the standings are concerned,” Teter said. “We are looking at this as an important region game that we have to win. From here on out, we need to win if we want to go to the playoffs.”

Sequoyah may be in luck tonight.

North Springs (0-5, 0-1) is currently mired in a 28-game losing streak dating back to the 2009 season, and the Spartans have struggled on both sides of the ball all season long.

Not only had North Springs scored an average of just six points per game, it’s given up 40 points or more in four of its five games this year.

“We feel like we’ve got a good chance against them,” Teter said.

Though the Spartans have struggled to score this year, Teter expressed concern over their willingness to quickly switch formations on offense.

“Defensively, our biggest problem is that we don’t know what formation they are going to come out in,” Teter said. “We haven’t been very sure of what to prepare for. They might be able to get some yards and points by confusing our defense.”

Teter was also wary of North Springs’ 3-4 defense, which blitzes heavily when faced with a Wing-T offense like Sequoyah’s.

“Last week, against Forsyth Central, they blitzed almost every down in the second half, and I expect them to do the same thing to us,” Teter said. “I think we’ll be OK. Quite a few teams this season have blitzed a lot against us, and we’ve done all right so far. Plus, the kids have done really well in practice against it.”

One of Teter’s biggest concerns is for his offense to cut down on turning the ball over, especially at pivotal points in the game.

“We’re a pretty good offense if we do things correctly, but, last week, we had two key fumbles in the fourth quarter, and they really hurt us,” Teter said. “We need to fix that.”

Teter also expects to see a big game from running back Blake Ingleton, who was held to a season-low 56 yards on 17 carries against Creekview.

“I think he will respond well this week,” Teter said.

Teter also expressed his confidence in running backs Dustin Dawson and Stuart Glassic, should Ingleton falter against North Springs.

“We know people are going to try and take Blake out of the game, but we have two other running backs that can step in when that happens,” Teter said. “All three of them are very determined to have a good game this week, so I think that we’ll be fine.”