Prep Football Preview: Roper: We still have something to play for

It's not a case of being over, but Harrisburg's hope of postseason play was all but dashed Friday night in a 42-7 loss at Murphysboro last Friday night.

The Bulldogs have two games left on the schedule with Herrin and Carbondale both at home in the coming weeks, starting with the Tigers Friday at Taylor Field.

"We pretty much know at this point that we're out of the playoff hunt," Harrisburg head coach Jason Roper said. "That's obvious, but right now, we're focusing on our last two games being at home and one of those is going to be senior night."

Roper said he's looking forward to the final two home games and in an effort to continue to breath life into his team, calls the last two "big games" in front of Harrisburg's hometown crowd.

The Bulldogs prep for a Herrin team that a lot of experts knew before the season started were going to be one of the top teams in southern Illinois.

Despite a Week 1 loss to Waterloo, the Tigers have played flawless this year, earning themselves a No. 7 ranking in the Associated Press Top 10 Class 4A Poll.

"It's defintely going to be a tough matchup for us because of their physciality," Roper said. "We're pretty banged up and have some guys out right now, so with that being said and with Herrin being as physical as they are and with our depth situation, it's going to be best for us."

The best-case-sceneario for Harrisburg entering Friday night's game according to Roper is to not have the "sky-is-falling" mentality and still go out and compete like the game means something.

"I think anytime you go into a game like that you, you want to go in with the mindset of competing and getting better. Those are two of our goals and the final score of the game is meaningless. The only thing we can control is how hard we play, execute and the things we do to put ourselves in a situation to win. I feel like our kids will do that."

NOTES: Harrisburg will be without Austin Lowry, Aaron Johnson, Brandon Hale, Cody Rightnowar, Aaron Stephens, Zach Stevens and Blane Satterfield

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.