Millennium High School’s varsity football team will step back onto its home field Friday night to face its sister school and rival, Verrado.

The Millennium Tigers started this season with a new head coach, their third in the last four years.

The new head coach, Lamar Early, is working to rebuild a young team. The Tigers only have nine starters returning, four of which are seniors.

“We are still in the process of discovering ourselves as individuals and as a team, due to all of the new faces,” Early said.

The Tigers faced Gilbert Perry, the third-ranked team in the state, last Friday for their first game of the season and lost 57-34. Early indicated eight of the normal starters began on the bench due to disciplinary actions.

“The boys started slow because we didn’t have our full team out there,” Early said. “By second half, I could see they weren’t giving up. They kept fighting to last second.”

Early said he expects the starters to bounce back from last week and be ready to take on Verrado.

With it being Early’s first year at Millennium, he is not sure how the two teams will compete. The last time these two teams faced each other, Verrado won 41-20.

Early is taking measures to ensure the players are ready for the kickoff Friday night, including watching Verrado’s film and practicing game-time scenarios.

“We have to come out to play disciplined football,” Early said. “Our offensive line played well, so I expect them to show up. On our defensive side, we are very young. Our line is a work in progress.”

When Early came to Millennium, he brought along his defensive coach, Michael Loprich. Despite giving up 57 points last week, Loprich is happy about the work his defense has put into practice this week.

“Our team is aware of the things we need to improve upon in order to better compete better than we did against Perry the week previously,” Loprich said. “We've had a positive week of practice in preparing for Verrado and now need to transition that understanding to the game on Friday night.”

The Tigers are still looking for the best combination of players and scheme on defense.

The team has a few leaders on defense emerging such as junior offensive/defensive lineman Anthonie Cooper, senior wide receiver/defensive back Aidan Diggs and junior linebacker David Enriquez, who led the team in tackles against Perry.

“David is going to be a good linebacker for us. He can move around and loves contact.” Loprich said.

Jalan Early, a sophomore from Millennium, talked about how their defense is focusing on shutting down the Viper’s key player, running back/receiver, Ja’Tai Jenkins.

“We have changed our defense in order spy on the best player on the team [Jenkins],” said Jalan Early, the coach’s son. “He is their number one running back and receiver.”

The Tigers said they are hoping all of their preparation will pay off when game time rolls around.

Said Loprich, “We look forward to competing against a rival school in our same school district. The competition is a good thing for the students, athletes and community. The stadium and game will be full of energy and spirit, I'm sure.”