The Pike County Bulldogs travel south to Daphne today  to take on the Bayside Admirals in the second round of the Class 3A State playoffs.

The Bulldogs (9-2) are coming off a nail-biting 27-22 win over American Christian in round one. Bayside (7-4) defeated Daleville 21-14 last week.

“We are very excited,” said Bulldogs head coach Fred Holland. “We are coming off a game where our guys battled back and put points on the board. We face a tough Bayside team, but our guys look forward to getting on the road and going down there.”

The Bulldogs survived a strong showing by American Christian because of their preparation, Holland said.

“They faced adversity in the game and overcame it,” Holland said. “We are led by so many different guys each week. Our team feeds off that. We are proud of the kids for continuing to play.”

As the season continues to move along the excitement continues to ramp up and the young Bulldogs seem to take everything in stride.

“For guys that have such limited experience, they are taking it quite well,” Holland said. “They come in and work hard. They understand what is at stake and they understand there is no tomorrow. Everything you want to do depends on how you do on Friday night.”

The Rebels have won four out of their last six games under head coach Phil Lazenby.

“They are very smart and well-coached,” Holland said. “They are a great football team and we understand that we have to play well to keep playing. They make plays and they continue to pursue the ball on defense. They are relentless.”

They are averaging 24 points per game by largely relying on a heavy running game.

“They are more of a running team, but they can throw the ball if they need to,” Holland said. “ They have a senior quarterback that can get the ball into places. They will spread you out and try to attack you inside.”

Daphne has held all their opponents to under 30 points per game since Sept. 30. Holland expects the Admirals to run a 3-5 look on defense, but change as the game moves along.

“They run a multiple defense, because they will do whatever they have to do,” Holland said. “They will do a number of things to prevent you from doing what you want to do.”

The Bulldogs plan on leaving campus early on Friday and get down to  Daphne early enough to  make sure they are well prepared for the contest.

“It’s a long trip, but us being out of school gives us the opportunity to come together early and do some things that we normally wouldn’t do,” Holland said.

Bayside won the only meeting between the two schools, a 32-18 win in 2013.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Freedom Field in Daphne.