1. Start strong

It came up during a Seneca coaches’ meeting that the Bobcats seem to take a while to get into their comfort zone, and so far, that has occurred with the opposition already on the scoreboard. Seneca has to come out with a strong start against Clinton on Friday night and not be forced to play from behind as it has done in each of its three games this season. The Bobcats were able to come back against Pendleton and make it a game against Greenville last week, but it would be a tremendous help if they’re not playing catch-up all night.

2. Shore up the special teams

The Bobcats were atrocious in punt protection last week, which almost single-handedly took them out of the Greenville game. Seneca can’t afford those blunders against Clinton, or anyone else for the rest of the season for that matter, if it expects to win games, as it is hard to underestimate the value of solid special teams play. The Bobcats have spent much of the week trying to correct what Seneca head coach Ron Duncan has called correctable mistakes in protection, and those changes have to show themselves against the Red Devils.

3. Don’t give up the big play

This sounds funny given that Clinton wants to methodically move the ball down the field and chew up a lot of clock, but the Bobcats need to defend against the big play from Clinton. Despite maybe losing the time of possession battle, the longer the Red Devils handle the football, it’s just more time for them to make mistakes, such as penalties and turnovers, that can help Seneca get an edge as it tries to haul in its first victory of the season and the Ron Duncan era.