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Steamboat Springs — The Hayden football team squeaked past Paonia last year. The Tigers hope for the same result - but with less nail-biting - when the teams square off tonight.

Hayden travels to Paonia for the 7 p.m. kickoff. The game will be the first Western Slope League contest for the Tigers this year. They beat Paonia, 6-3, last year.

"We talked this whole week that this is a new season for us. We're going into this week 0-0," Hayden coach Shawn Baumgartner said. "The start of the conference means it's a whole new season, and we need to get the ball rolling again."

The ball already was rolling just fine for the Tigers, who have reeled off three consecutive wins after a season-opening loss. Hayden upended perennial powerhouse Grand Valley two weeks ago, then stomped Dolores, 48-14, on Saturday.

Still, things always are a bit different once league play begins, Baumgartner said.

"There's a familiarity with each other," he said. "A lot of things don't change a whole lot from year to year with each team."

Even a switch at head coach - Paonia's Craig Cerise is in his first season - hasn't done much to change the Eagles, at least in Baumgartner's eyes. He expects to find the same thing he saw last year: a tough, hard-nosed defense and a strong, balanced offense.

Leading the way for Paonia's offense has been running back and wide receiver Jordan Van Vleet.

The tall, speedy back ran for 98 yards on 19 carries against the Tigers last year, and twice has topped 100 yards in Paonia's five games this year.

The Eagles can pass - as much as any team Hayden has seen so far, according to Baumgartner - and has other backs, including bruising senior Lukas Wiggins. But the key to a Hayden victory may lie in stopping Van Vleet.

His 100-yard games came in the first two weeks of the season, both Paonia victories. He's struggled to top 50 yards in a game since, and the Eagles have lost all three games. He finished with just two yards in a 44-13 loss to Grand Valley and 25 yards in a 23-8 loss to Hotchkiss.

"He's a really good open-field runner," Cerise said. "He's tall and can break a lot of tackles. People just kind of slide off him. He's a good receiver, too."

While on offense, Hayden will look to loosen up the Paonia defense with its passing game. The Tigers didn't have to go to the air to get past Dolores, but it may be more important this week, Baumgartner said. Paonia has played eight defenders near the line through much of the early part of the season, and likely will gang up to stop Coy Letlow and the Hayden running attack.

"They look like a traditional Paonia team. The just have real tough kids down there," Baumgartner said. "They're going to come after us every play, and we've got to be on our toes."