MOOSEHEART, IL, Sept. 21 - Coming off its first loss of the season last Friday, Mooseheart football coach Gary Urwiler has a few goals in mind -- but the first is to get back into the win column again.

The Ramblers' first crack at that comes on Friday, Sept. 25, when Mooseheart hosts Christian Liberty in a 7 p.m. contest.

"When we viewed films of the Rockford Christian game over the weekend, we discussed the importance and the need of getting that winning feeling back again," Urwiler said. "We also want to play at a high caliber. I don't care who we are playing this week. We need to focus on doing things the way we do every week. We've got to get that edge back."

Mooseheart (3-1 overall, 3-1 NAC) suffered its first loss in its Week Four encounter at Rockford Christian, a 41-14 Northeastern Athletic Conference defeat. The Ramblers and Lions met as fellow undefeated programs--though the hosts in the Sept. 18 game were stronger on the night.

"They have a tremendous program," Urwiler said of Rockford Christian. "They've been to the playoffs the last four years in a row and they just play high-caliber football."

That said, the Ramblers were only behind 12-8 at halftime and took the third quarter kickoff with an attitude toward taking the lead. The drive stalled when Mooseheart fumbled away the football--and the momentum never swung the Ramblers' way again.

"We came in with the mindset that we could compete and give them a good football game," Urwiler said. "We felt we had the opportunity, even with the way the first half transpired. They made some adjustments at halftime, and they were very good adjustments, obviously. We weren't able to stop them."

The Ramblers suffered with turnovers through the second half against Rockford Christian. The Lions returned two turnovers for touchdowns as they turned that close contest into their eventual victory.

"I don't fault guys, but I think they were trying to do too much to fight to get back into it," Urwiler said. "They weren't taking care of the ball. You can't do that against a team like Rockford Christian, which is going to take care of the clock and pound the football a little bit."

Mooseheart's next opponent, Christian Liberty (0-4, 0-4) is in its first year as a varsity football program. The Eagles have been outscored 193-6 through four games this season.

"Rockford Christian took it to us," Urwiler said. "We have to have our normal routine and not do anything different. We can't treat (Christian Liberty) lightly, because on any given night, it doesn't matter who you play, they can get you if you're not ready. Hopefully we'll put on a nice performance on Friday and then we can look forward to the next game."

That "next game" is the Ramblers annual tilt with always-tough Alden-Hebron. In its final five games of the season, Mooseheart plays three teams--in Alden-Hebron, Chicago Hope and CICS Longwood--whose current combined record is 11-1.

"One of the positive things we took out of the Rockford Christian game is that we don't have to question, 'Can we play with the toughest competition?'" Urwiler said. "I think we can. Obviously we need to stay healthy and we need to eliminate some of those aggressive mistakes. But I think this game showed us we can compete on a high level with the elite teams."

Urwiler and his team have three home games remaining on their schedule, starting with Friday's contest. The other home games are Saturday, Oct. 10 against Hope Academy in the school's annual Homecoming contest, and Friday, Oct. 16 against Kirkland-Hiawatha.

"That's huge," Urwiler said. "We're definitely looking forward to being at home and getting back on track and listening to our crowd cheer us on."