The Paradise Valley Trojans take on the North Canyon Rattlers at home on Friday. The Trojans are 3-1 on the season, while the Rattlers are 2-3.

Paradise Valley is coming off its first loss of the season against Flowing Wells. North Canyon is coming off a road win against Carl Hayden. Paradise Valley currently sits at fourth in the 5A Northeast Valley conference, while North Canyon ranks sixth.

Paradise Valley’s practice on Wednesday had a clear emphasis on the defensive end. After last week’s 50-43 loss, making tackles was the focal point for Trojans coach Greg Davis.

“Last week I felt like we had guys in the right spots, we just didn’t make plays when we had the opportunity to,” Davis said. “We can’t allow them to extend drives when they’re on third-and-eight, we have to get the tackle.”

For PV’s game against North Canyon, Davis focused on player-to-player communication.

“The defense has to realize what the formation looks like pre-snap and communicate with each other to make the play,” Davis said.

Offensively, Paradise Valley wide receiver Tristin Lee prepared to make some changes. Lee has chalked up 466 yards on 31 receptions and is second in 5A Northeast Valley in receiving yards, so North Canyon’s defense may look to adjust accordingly.

“Last week I was getting double teamed, so I’m fine being used as a decoy to get the other receivers involved,” Lee said. “Whatever they give us, we’ll figure out a way to exploit it.”

PV’s passing game will look a little different on Friday, according to Davis.

“They’re athletic, so we’ll look for shorter routes for positive yards on first down,” Davis said. “They like to run man coverage, so we’ll be looking for that.”

Even with slight changes coming, quarterback Ben Finley expects another day at the office.

“Just execute. Last four weeks, just do what I did, throw the ball in time, good drops, I think we’ll be fine,” Finley said. “We’ve just gotta come out prepared, we probably slacked off a little last week, we gotta get back into that mentality and be prepared for anything.”

Last week’s trip to Flowing Wells in Tuscon was a two-hour bus ride from Paradise Valley High School, which ended up taking a toll on the team.

“Some of those guys have never had to travel like that,” said Davis, echoing Finley’s sentiment that the energy just wasn’t there. This week, Paradise Valley looks forward to playing in front of a friendly crowd once again.

“It’s fun to show off a little bit in front of the home crowd,” said running back Kevin Lutz, “it’s a good time, I think it gives us a little more energy when the crowd is there to support us.” This will be Paradise Valley’s third of five home games this season.

Lutz spent time in practice working on his receiving, an area of his game that he looks to improve on through the rest of the season.

“I need to improve my hands and my blocking,” Lutz said, “but my main focus is protecting Ben in the pass game, running as hard as I can in the rushing game, and blocking for my teammates and hoping they block for me.”

Blocking will be important against North Canyon, a team averaging 2.8 sacks per game. Their total of 14 sacks across five games is more than double the national average.

Paradise Valley’s battle with North Canyon kicks off Friday at 7 p.m. at Paradise Valley.