*Jeremy Stewart, Rome News-Tribune Sports Writer*

For seven years, the Coosa Eagles have walked off of the field at Barron Stadium after the annual Shrine Game with their helmets raised in triumph.

On Saturday night at 7:30 p.m., they’ll be faced with defending their reign against Armuchee once again and keeping their focus intact.

For the 60th edition of the fall classic, the game will again be the first Region 7-AA South contest for both squads and put more importance on a win.

“I’ve said before that I think our region this year is more balanced than it’s ever been and I think you’re probably going to see that Saturday night if you haven’t already,” Coosa coach Chad Perry said.

“It’s going to take us playing a very solid game against a very talented bunch.”

Coosa (3-1) comes in on the heels of a strong defensive showing against Dade County last week that saw the Eagles take a 10-0 lead early and hold on for the shutout.

Armuchee (2-1) will be looking to change its fortunes in front of the Saturday night crowd as, like a year ago, the Indians have a two-game winning streak coming into this game.

“I hope we can be a competitive football team with them this year,” Indians coach John Mullinax said. “We haven’t been real competitive and they’ve got another strong football team.”

For the Eagles, they will enter the game without at least four players, including defensive leader Justin Haney.

On Wednesday, Haney, a senior linebacker, and juniors Matt Duvall, Casey Allgood and Timmy Williams were arrested in conjunction with an off-field incident.

According to Floyd County Jail records, the four were involved in a weekend fight that occurred in an Armuchee grocery store parking lot.

“We’re going to turn a negative into a positive,” Perry said when asked how the team was going to approach this game following the news. “I think there are a lot of things that are still unsettled right now as far as the kids that are in question.”

“But right now, if we’ve got some kids that have been in trouble then they were doing nothing but bringing our team down so we’ll be better off in the long run because we found out at this time of the year.”

With public concern converging on the instance of reported gang-related activity, the Rome Shrine Club is working with local law enforcement to have increased security at the game.

Unsure of exactly what charges will be pending or what further actions will be taken, Perry said that he had talked to his players about what they need to do for this week.

“I told the guys that we had to have our leadership step forward,” he said. “We had to be able to handle distractions and that we were going into the biggest game we’ve had so far.”

In last year’s Shrine Game, a close first half gave way to an explosion of offense from Coosa that angled the Eagles to a 62-21 blowout.

However, with their offense still trying to find their identity, a cautious Perry is keeping his players up-to-date with what Armuchee has been working on.

“Coach Mullinax is doing a great job over there with his kids and they’re playing hardcore so we’re going to have to get ready for four quarters of football in order to come out successful,” Perry said.

On the other hand, Mullinax understands that Coosa still may have the advantage on them in some aspects but knows that they have had some promising moments this season.

“We’re still probably undersized, physically, and they’ve probably got more team speed than us but I definitely think we’re a better football team, especially on defense, than we were this time last year,” Mullinax said.

“On offense, we still haven’t found our niche. But I’ve seen us improve this week.”