It’s November.

The cool breeze of lasting memories and magical playoff runs is in the air.

For Pike Liberal Arts, November is a chance to extend their dream of a season with the hopes of capping it with a state title.

The Patriots’ turnaround season is one that just two years ago seemed near impossible.

After going 3-17 their last two seasons, PLAS is carrying an impressive 8-3 record into the first round of the AAA playoffs against undefeated Bessemer Academy.

Head coach Gene Allen said last Friday after the Patriots’ regular season finale that he is happy to see his team  finally achieve the success it deserves.

“It’s good to see them get some wins,” Allen said. “It’s good to see. Drew (Starling) and Connor (Woods) and Patrick (Henderson) and Cameron (Crowe) — they were here the year we were 1-9 and never came off the field. Last year was a little bit better. We were 2-8, but we had a lot of kids hurt.”

But even dream seasons are susceptible to not-so-happy endings, and the Patriots will have their work cut out for them against Bessemer Academy.

The Rebels offense has scored at will all season, putting up more than 40 points in seven of it’s 10 games this year.

And their defense is just as dominant, recording three shutouts and six games holding it’s opponents to less than seven points.

PLAS will have to put their past success behind them and focus on their next obstacle in the Rebels.

No one understands that better than Allen.

“Now we’ve just got to get ready,” Allen said Friday night. “Right now everybody is 0-0 getting ready to play, so we’ve just got to get ready to play Bessemer.”