Friday Football: Stanton tries for three straight during Essex Homecoming

There are a couple of big games in 8-man District 8 for Friday night.

One of the bigger ones could be taking place in Essex though as the Trojans try to snap their long losing skid, dating back to 2012, when they host the Stanton Vikings.

Stanton has won six straight meetings against Essex, including last year 68-40, versus Essex/South Page.

The Trojans are 0-4 to start the 2014 season. Defense has been the biggest problem as they've allowed 66 points per game thus far in four games this season, including 82 last week in a loss to CAM.

The offense has been able to pick it up somewhat, thanks in part to Austin Woods, who had 183 yards and two touchdowns in last week's loss to CAM.

Stanton meanwhile is 2-2 and coming off a big win last week against East Mills, 66-54.

Stanton is 2-0 in district play and a win versus Essex would get them to 3-0, heading into next week's game against Fremont-Mills.

The air game has been key to Stanton's success for the last couple of games. Brady Johnson has 617 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns for the season.

The game starts at 7 p.m. at Essex High School.

Elsewhere, the rivalry returns to Tabor Friday night as Fremont-Mills hosts East Mills.

East Mills tries to recover from the loss to Stanton last week. Fremont-Mills meanwhile looks to keep its undefeated record intact when they play the Wolverines for the first time since 2011.

The Knights have won four straight, including a playoff matchup in 2011. East Mills hasn't defeated Fremont-Mills since 2007.

The other two games in 8-man district 8 feature Sidney at CAM and Nishnabotna at Lenox.