The Cougars of Canoe have a chance to send a message this week when they play their second consecutive AISA Class 3A opponent after beating the Fort Dale Academy Eagles 32-30 last week.

This week, the Cougars (7-3, 4-2) will host their rivals, the Monroe Academy Volunteers in an interclass match up that always has fireworks from both sides.

The Volunteers (8-1, 6-0) come into the game riding an eight-game winning streak with their only loss coming in week one to Bessemer Academy.

Monroe Academy is a team that has used their talents to push them through the season and locked up the region already, Cougars head coach Heath Gibson said.

“They are a great football team,” he said. “They are 8-1 right now and a region champion, so we need to force them to make mistakes.”

With last year’s game being a lopsided 49-0 loss, the Cougars are hoping to get their first win over Monroe since 1998. That win was the third in a row for the Cougars, which is their longest such streak.

This year, the Cougars are stronger and could provide a challenge for Monroe.

Match ups on both sides of the ball could give EA an edge, Gibson said.

“We just look forward to going into this game,” he said. “We feel like we match up well with them. They are larger than we are on the lines, but we feel we can match up with our skill players and utilize our speed.”

Film sessions have opened the door for the Cougars to see where they could stop the Volunteers.

The key to stopping the Volunteers will be creating mistakes and the Cougars not making them, Gibson said.

“We’ve seen a lot of things that we like on film,” he said. “We are similiar in what we run and how we run it, but I think that it’s going to come down to the team that makes the least amount of mistakes.”

When the two teams take the field on Friday night, the fans will see a mirror image with the opponents being similar.

Monroe Academy will be running an option that looks just like the one the Cougars use, Gibson said.

“In the past, he has thrown the ball a lot, but this year, they have gone to a run-oriented offense,” he said. “They have the stalker package and runs the spread option game. We will look just alike.”

The Cougars and Volunteers kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Bachelor Field in Canoe.