The Florida Stingrays did not launch their inaugural season the way they had imagined.

The first-year franchise in the American Indoor Football Association is not making excuses for its 56-9 loss last Saturday to the Huntington Heroes in West Virginia.

Stingrays coach Bryan Jernigan and his team went back to the drawing board this week at practice in hopes of redeeming themselves in time for their first home game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Lee Civic Center against the Augusta Colts.

“We are very excited to be playing at home,” said Jernigan. “We look forward to putting on a good show for the fans. We are hoping for a good crowd and are hoping for at least 2,000 fans, if not more. The more fans we have, the more the team will get pumped up for a big victory.”

Jernigan does not believe Saturday’s attendance will be affected by the Easter weekend holiday.

The Stingrays (0-1) transitioned to indoor practices at the Civic Center this week and Jernigan hopes it helps them feel more comfortable come Saturday night. All of their previous practices were outdoors at Buckingham Park fields.

After their tough loss to the Heroes (1-0), Stingrays management illustrated the importance of building a winning program in Southwest Florida.

“We have signed some new players and added an additional coach to the staff,” said Jernigan. “The whole team has changed … we have some new players, we have some returning players, and we have released players. We also have made some changes to the staff to include a new defensive back coach.”

With all of the changes this week, Jernigan and the owners anticipate the Stingrays will score their first touchdown. Last Saturday, kicker Frank Berardi accounted for all nine points.

“We plan on putting our first touchdown on the boards Saturday night, and we plan to put up a lot more,” Jernigan said.

When they step on their home field for the first time in burgundy, gold and black uniforms, the matchup should be much more competitive than the first game. The Augusta Colts (0-1) are not as strong as the Heroes.

“After last week’s games, I believe Huntington will be the toughest competition for every team, not only the Stingrays,” Jernigan said. “Hunting-ton is made up of a combination of three different teams (from last year) — Lakeland, Fayetteville and Huntington. This combination gives them a large talent pool to work with, but this is still no excuse for (our) loss.”

After facing the toughest team in the league, the Stingrays’ weaknesses were exposed. Jernigan believes the pass protection and defensive coverage were downfalls last week. Quarterback Ryan McCutcheon, a Fort Myers High graduate, was sacked 10 times in the lopsided defeat.

Players were frustrated after the beating, but two players stepped up to escort the team out of its pity mode.

“Fullback Chris Morant and linebacker Yoshi Smith both have showed leadership skills on and off the field, and they both have what is needed to bring the Stingrays to a successful season,” said Jernigan.

Morant, Smith and Jernigan are trying to do everything in their power to ensure the Stingrays abandon the memories of last week as 13 games still remain in the regular season.

The Stingrays, along with the Colts, Columbus Lions and Mississippi Mudcats comprise the South Division of the Western Conference. The AIFA is comprised of four divisions in two conferences — East and North divisions in the Eastern Conference and South and West divisions in the Western Conference.