When the Fort Worth Country Day Falcons break , the new phrase is “beat Kincaid on three,” senior quarterback Morgan Pergande said.

FWCD returns home to open conference play against Southwest Preparatory Conference powerhouse Kinkaid Friday. It would be the first game of the season when the Falcons step onto the field with a loss.

After falling 15-13 in triple overtime against Grace Prep last week, the word “shocked” was the first reaction but not enough to describe the heartbreaking loss.

“It’s really frustrating to watch it on film and have to stomach that and move on,” Pergande said. “That was a game we could have and should have won.”

Head coach Frank Gendusa said the team was not as sharp as it could have been. He said he did not know the exact reason but it was possible he took Grace Prep too lightly.

Gendusa said preparedness comes from practice, which was his responsibility as a head coach.

“After watching the kids play hard, I feel like I didn’t do a good job with it,” he said. “I told them it was my fault and I took the heat for the loss.”

With an eye-opening loss and Kinkaid coming into town, FWCD “picked up the intensity” at practice.

Gendusa said the team is trying to stay in a rhythm instead of slowing down and speeding up the tempo.

“The mark of a good team is not necessarily whether you win all the time but what can you do after a loss and how do you come back,” he said.

Pergande said Kinkaid is the most important game to the Falcons because the outcome of this week is going to set the tone for the rest of the season.

Gendusa said there are no weak spots in the Kinkaid program. FWCD must “play mistake-free football to win” because Kinkaid is a team who knows how to travel, he said.

Although Kincaid holds a 2-1 record, the program has owned the SPC Division I championship title for two years.

“We don’t expect to lose,” Pergande said. “Every single game we go into we come in with the mentality that we are going to work as hard as we can to beat them in every single play.“