By Cort Reynolds

ADA - Struggling Ada hopes to right the ship on their long trek to Paulding Friday to face an improved Panther squad as the Bulldogs kick off a season-ending three-game road swing.

Plagued by numerous injuries, Ada (2-5, 1-3 NWC) is 0-2 away from home this season, and has lost three straight games to top league opponents by a combined total of 141 points.

Paulding (2-5, 2-2 NWC) lost 50-20 at Allen East Friday night, snapping a two-game win streak after they suffered four losses to begin the season. The Panthers fell to Wayne Trace, Fairview, Antwerp and Columbus Grove by a combined score of 54-142 to start the year 0-4.

The Panthers then rebounded to beat Bluffton (28-17) and Delphos Jefferson (57-12) in consecutive NWC contests, their first league wins since October 29, 2010. The victories snapped a 51-game NWC losing skid dating back to the last game of that 2010 season, a 36-22 Paulding win over Crestview.

The Panthers boast the league's top punter in Jacob Eblin at 37 yards per boot.

Ada rallied late to beat the upset-minded Panthers 22-16 last year despite Paulding rushing for 200 yards and holding a 16-15 lead in the final quarter.

"Paulding is a dangerous program on the rise, as we saw last year," said Ada head coach Shawn Christopher. "But this week is more about our guys playing hard and making plays than it is about schemes against them."

The Bulldogs have beaten Paulding 13 times in a row, dating back to Oct. 1 of 2004. The Panthers won that 2004 game at home, 26-21.

"Paulding is a very solid team that plays very hard," the coach continued. "They are very fundamentally sound and well-coached. They will be a tough opponent after a long bus ride to get there.

"They will be balanced and try to control the ball, and we must get stops."

The Bulldogs still have a chance to reach .500 if they sweep their final three games on the road. Ada has not finished under .500 since 2005, when they went 3-7 under Jeff Lease.

"We have to look forward; we have three winnable games left and hope to finish 5-5," Christopher noted. "We have had to play a lot of young guys (due to injuries) who have gotten experience.

"We have to get all 11 guys on the field on the same page playing hard and doing their jobs," said the first-year head coach.

Staying positive and playing with sustained intensity are keys for a team decimated by injuries and discouraged by three straight blowout defeats.

"We will have to see what we can do with these last three games," said Christopher. "Hopefully we can win the first two and get some momentum heading into Allen East."

Paulding ranks 24th in the Div. V, Region 18 computer ratings. Ada is 23rd in the Div. VI, Region 22 rankings.

"We have to come out with a lot of energy from the very opening kick," warned Christopher. "We are a group that needs to continue to get better, and these last three weeks are going to be very important for our program.

"It is a three-game season now, and we want the seniors to go out on a bang - and also build momentum for next season," added Christopher.