Coming off a stinging 17-14 overtime loss on the road last week to Jones County, the Alcovy Tigers football program looks to get on the right track this week against Perry.

The Tigers will battle the Panthers at home at Sharp Stadium, hoping to even their record to 1-1 on the year.

After first-game miscues cost the Tigers a shot at victory a week ago, Alcovy coach Kirk Hoffman said his program is ready to get on the field this week to show fans what the team can really do when it's focused.

"I thought the kids came back with a great mental attitude," Hoffman said. "They did really well during the correctional period this week. It went really well.

"A lot of what happened was typical first-game problems. I feel like we've corrected those problems and they shouldn't be an issue this week. We have to continue to play smarter and the rest of it will work itself out," he said.

Two of those first-game miscues that Hoffman highlighted included two mistakes in the red zone. Alcovy turned the ball over once deep in Jones County territory, while a penalty stagnated a second possible Tigers' scoring drive in the 3-point loss.

"We played well enough to win," Hoffman said. "It was the first game and we made some mistakes, especially inside of the red zone. We can't do that. I thought offensively we moved the ball really well. We had about 350 yards of total offense, which is not bad at all. Defensively, we misaligned twice and it cost us both times. Those are mistakes that we need to fix.

"We have to keep playing hard and shoring those areas up," he said.

The Tigers opened a 14-0 lead on the road last week against Jones County, scoring a pair of touchdowns on a touchdown pass by Tristen Payne and a 3-yard scoring run by Jared Farley.

Despite their early offensive outburst, the Tigers were stalled in the second period, surrendering 10 points to the Greyhounds over the final two quarters and overtime.

This week the Tigers will host Perry, which allowed 35 points in a 35-17 loss to Peach County.

Although the Panthers fell in their season opener, Hoffman said that the Tigers would have to play a perfect mental game at home to thwart Perry.

"They pretty good athletically," Hoffman said. "They have a couple of kids that can run and if they get up the field, we will be in trouble. They run the ball really well. That kind of concerns us a bit because of their overall quickness. Defensively against Peach County they gave up a lot of points, but they're going to be good there, too."

Perry running back Shontrellis Williams carried for 101 yards in two quarters of play against Peach County last week, scoring twice on the ground, displaying the quick speed that Hoffman warned his players about.

Williams' potent ground attack powered the Panthers to 17 points after being shut out in the first half.

Perry and Alcovy enter tonight's contest with Perry leading the series 1-0.

Perry downed the Tigers 29-17 at home last season.

Last year against Perry, the Tigers turned the ball over three times, as quarterback Marcus Williams threw for just 146 yards and an interception in the loss. Over its first two games of 2012, Alcovy turned the ball over seven times, a trend that Hoffman doesn't want to see this year.

Alcovy hopes that in this battle of the cats, the mental miscues will have tamed themselves when play begins.

"What we're going to have to do is to stay disciplined on offense and be real disciplined on defense,. Discipline is the key this week," he said.

Football action will kick off at Sharp Stadium at 7:30 p.m.