After a 62-0 loss to visiting Oil City on Saturday, things don’t get much easier tonight for the winless Dragons. Warren travels to a battle-tested Meadville team eager to get over a 35-27 Region 6 loss to first-place General McLane.

By comparison, Warren’s youth (52 underclassmen and two seniors on the opening roster) lost 48-6 to McLane two weeks ago.

Meadville is 4-4 overall, but 2-1 in the region. The Bulldogs have lost to Butler, McDowell and Sharon outside of the region.

“Meadville sticks to what they do best and that’s running the football,” said Warren coach Cody Bupp. “They stick to their system and run at a high efficiency.”

Junior Jordan Lawrence, who ran for 226 yards against Warren last season, leads the Bulldogs with 848 yards on 93 attempts, or 9.1 yards per carry. He has 11 touchdowns on the ground, junior quarterback Jacoby Thompson has nine rushing touchdowns, and seniors Amari Grenaway and Bradyn Miller have three apiece. The list goes on as 10 different players have carried the ball for more than 2,000 yards in eight games.

“Their tailbacks bring speed and are gone when they get to the second level,” said Bupp. “Thompson gives them another dynamic in the spread game and adds another level you have to prepare for.”

The QB has also thrown for 698 yards and seven scores.

“Defensively, they stunt and blitz almost every play, and seem to have a guy running free all the time to make plays,” said Bupp. “We can’t beat ourselves and have to move the sticks and sustain drives.”

Meadville is a tough team to take the next step against, but that’s what Warren wants to do.

“All week we told the kids you have to play like there is no tomorrow,” said Bupp, whose Dragons are 0-8 and 0-3 in the region. “Our time together is running out, and you have to bring your best each play. I challenged them to play within their abilities, and to answer the physical call. When we, as a group, do this, we will take the next step.”