Following a tough, emotional loss, George Rogers Clark is looking to “keep an eye toward the future” as head coach Dr. Oliver Lucas says.

“You spend too much time wasting time on things behind you that you really can’t even control,” Lucas said. “All you do is learn from the things behind you because the things in front of you are the things that trip you up.”

That is the attitude that the Cardinals will have to have this week as they host perennial power Ballard on Friday night.

To kick off their week of getting their mental state where it needs to be following a loss, Lucas said his team has a rule all coaches and players are required to shake each other’s hands in the locker room after a game, win or lose, to show there isn’t any animosity toward anybody on the team.

This week in practice, GRC is learning how to “turn it up a notch before we face the beast” that is Ballard, Lucas said.

While they are turning everything up a notch, there are lots of things the Cardinals have done well this season.

Lucas is the most proud of his team’s inability to quit this season.

“Our kids play with heart,” Lucas said. “They never quit, and they find a way to rally in any game.”

The Cardinals head into the matchup with the Bruins only half of a game outside of first place in the district, with an opportunity to tie first-place Oldham County with a win Friday night.

“We just have to refocus and get back to doing us,” Lucas said of what it will take for the team to reach their goals this season. “If we refocus, retool and circle the wagons we should be okay.”

GRC has also had a fast start to their season on the offensive side of the ball, with Azariah Israel leading the way for the group, scoring 10 touchdowns in the team’s first four games. His 758 yards on the ground put him at 9th in the state in rushing yards.

The rest of the group has had a great start as well and Lucas gives the credit to his offensive coordinator, Russell Rigdon.

“He’s done an unbelievable job of making sure the kids understand their assignments,” Lucas said. “We’ve also augmented something that I can’t talk about in regards to how we call plays and that’s really helped us too.”

The other side of the ball has started the season out hot too. Specifically in the secondary, they’ve been doing things right.

“We’ve had some kids make some plays, we usually try to put our best defender on their best player and that’s worked well so far,” Lucas said. “But this week we’ve got four or five of them and we’re young in the secondary.”

But the secondary has been good this season, allowing less than 100 yards receiving per game outside of an outlier 365-yard game against Tates Creek, and the front seven have been able to get good pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Kickoff for GRC vs. Ballard is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Friday at GRC’s new Cardinal Stadium.