By Devin Smith

The cool weather settling in Alabama means that the high school football season is winding down and the race for a spot in the postseason is heating up.

Following a home win over the Slocomb Redtops (4-4, 3-2) last week the Pike County Bulldogs (6-4, 4-1) have one final regional test this Friday against the Daleville Warhawks (3-5, 3-2) that could lock up the second seed in Class 3A Region 2.

The game against the Redtops was a tight contest well into the fourth quarter, which is something that coach Fred Holland and his Bulldogs are growing accustomed to.

“We’ve had about three games like that this year and each one has helped us get a little bit stronger as we went,” Holland said. “That game definitely helped us in the regular season, and hopefully it will in the playoffs also.”

Pike County has been fortunate enough to play three of it’s last four region games including Daleville at home, which is an advantage that Holland can’t appreciate enough.

“Oh it’s been great,” Holland said. “You get to spend more time working with your players with watching film and things like that, it makes a big difference. When you have to go on the road each week some things are cut short so it’s a great opportunity.”

The Bulldogs are obviously set on securing the second seed in the region behind the Dale County Warriors, but the team isn’t trying to concern themselves with the playoffs just yet.

“Well we are trying to concentrate on Daleville, they’ll be a tall enough task,” Holland said. “We want to finish the region up the right way, we’re working hard and so far the week has been going pretty good. We just have to continue to work on the things that we need to do to be successful.”

Despite a lackluster record the Warhawks have been a competitive team this season and Holland looks at the game as a chance to end region play on a high note.

Daleville has a good team,” Holland said. “They play good defense and have great running backs, coach (Josh) Parrish has done a great job with them thus far and we expect it to be a tough matchup to help us finish out strong.”

Dealing with Daleville will pose its own set of challenges for Pike County on Friday, however there is still a lot of self-improvement that the Bulldogs can make as well.

“They have skill in all phases of the game. They have a really good return team, and they kind of run a wing-T with those outstanding running backs,” Holland said. “There are several things we have to work on, but we’re just trying to get better in each phase of the game.”

Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Bulldog Stadium in Brundidge.