The Pike County Bulldogs are riding high on a five-game shutout streak, and coach Fred Holland credits that to a simple but consistent work ethic.

“We have a bunch of blue-collar guys that work hard and do the things that we need to do,” said Holland, whose team has outpaced opponents 271-0 since their jamboree game against Charles Henderson. “The players accept the roles that we put them into. We are proud of them for what they have done.”

This week, the Bulldogs host the Wicksburg Panthers for homecoming.

And despite the hype of the week, Holland is confident his team remains focused.

“For us coaches we don’t always enjoy it because of the little distractions here and there. We try to keep them on pace,” he said. “We have a senior group of guys and hopefully they have learned a lot over the years and There is so many little things that are going on, but the guys look forward to it so we give a little bit.”

Now in the meat of their region schedule, the Bulldogs put an extra emphasis on starting quick and not taking any games for granted.

“Region games are always important and you always want to be on top,” Holland said. “Wicksburg will come in here fired up and ready to get a win. Our job is to maintain some of the things that we have done.”

With how dominant the Bulldogs have been so far this season, it’s hard to remember that they are in a race for first place with Daleville who is also undefeated within the region. The two teams will meet in two weeks in Daleville.

“Each week you face a different opponent,” Holland said. “Everybody has something that they do to prepare to win the game. Our next opponent doesn’t care what we did last week, and we don’t care what they did last week.”

Wicksburg (5-2, 2-2) will offer perhaps the stiffest challenge for the Bulldogs so far this season. They find themselves just two games back of the Bulldogs and Daleville.

“They do a lot of things on offense, so that tells me that their kids are smart,” Holland said. “They will go spread offense on us, they do an excellent job at running the football. We have our work cut out for us.”

Pike County will rely on their strong defense and running attack Friday night, something that has carried the Bulldogs all season long.

The Bulldogs have yet to let up a single point on defense since their preseason loss to the Charles Henderson. They have made key stops and turnovers setting up Deshon Cowling and the Bulldogs offense. Cowling has averaged over 100 yards per game this season and has scored at three touchdowns over the last three games.

Pike County and Wicksburg kick things off at 7 p.m. at Bulldogs Stadium.