Talawanda High School’s football team will try to get back on the winning side of the scoreboard with its final two games of the season at home, starting tonight.

The Braves lost 44-21 at Edgewood last Friday in a game in which the Cougars made few mistakes and capitalized on the ones Talawanda made.

“It was a disappointing Friday, that’s for sure,” THS coach J.D. Vonderheide said. “Edgewood did a really nice job of controlling the clock, moving the ball on the ground and making plays when they had to. We cost ourselves early with mistakes. We started the first half making too many mistakes and it cost us scores.”

Vonderheide said he hopes his team can correct those mistakes tonight against Southwest Ohio Conference foe Wilmington, a team whose 3-5 record is deceptive. The Hurricanes won their first three games of the season and have lost five in a row in the league by narrow margins and have played tough against the league leaders.

Last week, Wilmington lost to league co-leader Mount Healthy 7-6. Earlier, the Hurricanes lost to the other co-leader, Northwest, by a 31-20 count. They lost to Harrison by a narrow 16-12 score.

“Wilmington is a very solid football team and physical,” Vonderheide said. “They are 0-5 in the league but have been close in every game.”

The Braves saw last week’s game at Edgewood get out of control early, although they did manage to restore order for a short time.

Edgewood scored twice in the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead. Talawanda got a second-quarter touchdown from sophomore Maurice Thomas to cut the lead in half, but the Cougars scored two more times in the quarter to take a 28-7 halftime advantage.

Thomas scored on a 74-yard play less than a minute into the second half and cut that lead to 28-13. He finished the game with 171 yards on 21 carries and scored all three Talawanda touchdowns, two five-yard runs — one in the second quarter and one in the fourth — and the 74-yarder.

A mistake early in the game cost Thomas and the Braves another score.

“We did not stop them one time. It’s not big things. It’s little things,” Vonderheide said. “Maurice Thomas had 170 yards rushing. At 7-0, Maurice was split at wide receiver and went 70 yards. He slid off one tackle and went down the field, but it was called back. Now, it’s first-and-20.”

The coach said he is happy to be at home to close out the season, but both remaining opponents are solid.

“We have two games left, two big ones,” the Talawanda coach said. “It will be nice to be back at home. I look forward to the opportunity.”

Wilmington, however, has played well despite its record and Ross has been getting better, winning three of its last four games to get to 4-4 on the season.

Wilmington has some threats the Braves will have to overcome tonight.

“On defense, they have the league leader in sacks,” Vonderheide said. “David Henry has 8.5 sacks. He is a really good football player. They play hard, great on defense. That Henry kid stands out. On offense, they move the ball really well. They have a couple good running backs. Zack Day has 840 yards. They run him and they throw and catch the ball well.”

Wilmington’s quarterback, Cody McCune, is second in the league in passing with 849 yards.

“They lost some heartbreakers in the league, too,” he continued. “They lost to Harrison 16-12 and had the ball on the 16-yard-line but ran out of time. They won their first three but then lost the next five league games. That is a very good football team coming in here, that’s for sure.”

The Braves stand at 1-4 in the league and 1-7 overall. Edgewood is now in a three-way tie for third place at 3-2 in Southwest Ohio Conference play, behind Mount Healthy and Northwest, both undefeated at 5-0 in the SWOC and 8-0 overall. Edgewood is tied with Harrison and Ross.