Week 2 of the high school football season provides an opportunity for the Roseburg Indians to get things back on track after starting the season with a 35-0 loss to Mountainside last Friday.

Roseburg (0-1) will suit up in its home locker room as the Indians host the Nelson Hawks (1-0) for their home opener at 7 p.m. Friday night.

Week 1 was an eye-opening experience for the more than a dozen underclassmen, who made their varsity debuts for Roseburg.

Head coach Dave Heuberger said the transition from Thursday nights to Friday nights was a lot for some guys and resulted in first game jitters. Heuberger is hoping those nerves will fade, especially in front of the hometown crowd.

“Hopefully what happens is some of those jitters turn to excitement. Getting to play in front of their hometown and be out there under the lights on a Friday night. Hopefully that excitement and that energy carries into the game for some of those guys,” Heuberger said.

The seventh-year head coach said that it’s been a good week of practice “and kids are out there getting better. And we’re getting the things fixed that we need to fix.”

“Everyone had some chores to do this week at practice,” the coach added.

Roseburg will try to score its first points of the season against Nelson, a team that notched a shutout in a 28-0 win over Aloha last Thursday.

The victory gave the Hawks a surge of confidence to start the year, according to head coach Aaron Hazel.

Nelson High School opened in the fall of 2021 and the football team has worked hard to gain traction at the varsity level.

“For them to line up in a varsity game and know that they matched up, was huge for them,” Hazel said about his team. “And to come out on top and play the way we did on defense, pitch a shutout, it just validated everything they’ve done in really the last 12 months.”

The Hawks returned nearly all of the roster from last season, when Nelson finished the year 2-7.

Early on, the defense has been ahead of the offense, Hazel said, but he’s been very happy with the progression of his sophomore quarterback Avirey Durdahl.

“It was really nice to call a play and what I’m thinking and what he’s thinking, we’re on the same page,” Hazel said of the second-year starting QB.

Although the Hawks are confident after a Week 1 victory, Hazel is warning his team not to overlook Roseburg.

“We told our kids ‘do not look at the score and think anything other than you’re going to be in for a battle this game.’ You’re going to get a real tough, physical, good, well-coached football team,” said Hazel, who is familiar with the history of Roseburg football.

His brother, Adam, played quarterback for Thurman Bell and the Roseburg Indians in the early 2000s.

Heuberger was complimentary of the Nelson offense. He called them athletic, with talent at quarterback and running back.

“They stretch the field vertically and horizontally. They definitely got some skill guys that worry us and they got a couple guys up front that are some big bodies,” Heuberger said.

While the RHS coaching staff has been game-planning for the Hawks, Heuberger says that most of the attention this week has been self reflective.

“For us, it’s going to be still worrying about what we do a little bit more than what Nelson does. And that’s not saying that we’re not concerned with what they’re doing, but there’s some things we’ve got to fix before we worry about what other teams are doing,” the coach said.