Of course a victory would be nice, but what the young Rudder football team needs almost as badly right now is experience. Friday night experience. Game experience. Varsity experience.

Three weeks into the high school football season, the Rangers have played only one game in their first year of varsity competition. Rudder had an open date on Zero Week, then opened with a 48-0 loss to Cleveland. Last week, the Rangers' game at Brookshire Royal was canceled because of Hurricane Ike.

The Rangers hope to play the first road game in program history when they visit Hearne's Wood Field for a nondistrict game at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Hearne is a Class 2A program that is one classification below Rudder. The Eagles (0-2) don't have any more victories than the Rangers this season, but Hearne has seniors and juniors, something Rudder is without.

Right now, classifications and records don't mean as much to the Rangers as simply playing a game.

"It's been hard," Rudder coach C.M. Pier said. "We really needed to play last week. You've got to get in a rhythm. You've got to learn about your kids and get used to Friday nights. We've been practicing the last two weeks, but the more you play, the better you're going to get. Period."

The Eagles had their game against Navasota canceled last week. Hearne began the season with 25-24 losses to Class A power Bremond and 2A New Waverly.

Rudder has had a long time to think about the lopsided loss in its debut.

"After what went on with Cleveland, you want to go back out and get that taste out of your mouth," Pier said. "We've worked with that for two weeks and we need to play a game.

"The kids had to get an understanding of the speed of the game. That's the biggest thing they had to learn. This week we should be better. Our kids know these guys are fast and strong. The coaches had been telling them, and now they've felt it."

Rudder defensive end/tight end Ty Klintworth said Cleveland's speed was an eye-opener for the Rangers. Pier suggests that there will be more speed on tap with Hearne this week.

"I like their team," Pier said. "They've got speed, and any time you've got speed, you are dangerous. When you can put speed everywhere, that makes it hard for people."

The Eagles have a dangerous quarterback in senior Justin Evans who teams with an explosive receiver in senior Jamie Smith. Hearne will start three sophomores, with Kenneth Jones Jr. (running back, cornerback) and Alexander Flores (center, linebacker) expected to start on offense and defense.

RUDDER FOOTBALL

* What: Rudder (0-1) at Hearne (0-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday

* Radio: Online at RudderRangers.com

* Inside: Rudder-Hearne lineups, C4