TENNERTON – The Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneer football team is expecting a better outcome this Friday night when they visit the Philip Barbour Colts for a 7 p.m. kickoff in a Big 10 Conference outing.

With eight starters out last week due to COVID-19 protocols and a 31-13 loss to the Ripley Vikings, Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Zach Davis is ready to move on and build on the positive things the Bucs did last week.

“On offense, we fumbled four snaps but still averaged over five yards a play,” noted Davis. “We will take that any Friday night. We just need to eliminate our mistakes, such as the botching of snaps, finishing in the red zone, and just finding some consistency. I was still proud of our guys. We had players playing in positions during the game they had never played before.  It was wild, but I think we are much better off for it.”

Davis said the Bucs are in significantly better shape player-wise this week than last.

“We are going to get almost all of those players back for Philip Barbour,” stated Davis. “Hopefully we get some sort of normalcy back. I thought our practices on Monday and Tuesday were some of the best we have had all year.”

Davis and his Bucs will face a Philip Barbour team that has yet to play a game.

The Colts had their bye week in week one and had their week two game with Clay County canceled due to COVID-19 issues.

“The Colts are a great mystery,” said Davis. “We are flying blind into this game to a degree. They haven’t played anyone yet, so it is tough to know much about them. I know Jesiah Matlack is a nice player for them. Right now, I believe they have him at tight end instead of quarterback.”

Matlack could see time at tailback and quarterback, as well as tight end.

Sophomore Kaden Humphreys is expected to get the nod at quarterback for the Colts.

Davis said he is hopeful that with his team having a game under their belt, that will give them a slight advantage Friday night.

“I think teams can make their biggest improvements and adjustments from week one to week two,” Davis said. “We were in that spot last week with Ripley with them having played a game and we hadn’t.”

The Bucs, who managed two wins over the last two seasons, garnered both of them against the Colts.

“We aren’t even addressing that in practice,” stated Davis. “It is a nameless and faceless opponent every week. We are more concerned about playing the best we can play. That is the standard — playing to the best of your ability.”

The Bucs will be led offensively by junior tailback Savion Farmer, who broke two 60-yard runs last week and had one of the two B-U touchdowns.

“He had a great performance,” remarked Davis. “We see that all the time from him in practice. He is explosive and a tough runner.”

Davis said the Bucs need to run the ball and stop the run to win their encounter with the Colts.

“That is going be our formula to win every game,” stated Davis. “And we have to win the turnover battle.”

Following their game with Philip Barbour, the Bucs will visit Greenbrier East next Friday.