Davie’s football team is coming off an extremely tough loss, and it has a ton of tough games to go, including Friday’s nonconference game at North Davidson at 7:30 p.m.

Both teams are 0-1.

The biggest reason the Black Knights will be the favorite is running back T.J. Boyce, who rushed for 208 yards in last year’s three-point loss to Davie and 173 in last week’s four-point loss to Mt. Tabor. But with the defense that Davie has, there’s no regular-season game the War Eagles can’t win. Still, they’re not built to win a shootout. Definitely not a shootout like 2016, when Davie outlasted North 45-42 in one of the greatest scoring duels of all time.

“I heard some of the seniors step in and say: ‘Hey, we’re OK. It’s one game,’” Davie coach Tim Devericks said after the 20-14 overtime loss to Page.

Davie and North were conference rivals from 2001-16. But with a new school in Davidson County, the Knights are now in the 2-A ranks.

• Boyce gave North a chance to beat Tabor, but he had the ball stripped from his hands at the Tabor 39. The Spartans recovered and ran out the clock, preserving a 20-16 decision. … Tabor, which also left the Central Piedmont Conference as it moved down from 4-A to 3-A, spoiled Brian Flynn’s debut as North’s coach. Flynn was North’s offensive coordinator last year. … Jackson Perrell scored for North on a 31-yard pick-6. … Chris Dunn’s 40-yard field goal gave North a 10-7 halftime lead, but he missed a 49-yarder in the fourth quarter. … North had to use three quarterbacks in the second quarter – senior starter Josh Sicignano and juniors Zi Russell and Gaven Swicegood. Sicignano left with an injury to his ear, received stitches and returned late in the second quarter. … After North remained winless all-time on Tabor’s home field, the Spartans’ first-year coach, Tiesuan Brown, told the Winston-Salem Journal: “Our kids made it happen. I wish (North) luck. I’m pretty sure they are not going to lose another game in the regular season.”

• Davie will try to prove Brown wrong in the 50th Davie-North meeting. North, Davie’s oldest rival, leads the series 26-23. … When Davie survived the 87-point shootout last year, it was Devericks’ first game as Davie coach after replacing Devore Holman at midseason. The thriller stopped Davie’s four-game losing streak to North.