Sports Editor

For the first time in three weeks the Pike Liberal Arts School Patriots won’t be facing one of the top three teams in the State of Alabama.

But they will be facing one of the top five.

The Patriots played No. 1 Glenwood and No. 2 Monroe Academy in consecutive weeks and faced then-No. 3 Mobile Christian earlier in the year.

This Friday night the Patriots travel to play No. 5 Macon-East, the defending Class AA State Champions. This year the Knights are 6-1, dropping a close 14-13 decision to Lee-Scott earlier this year.

Glynn Lott returns for his sixth season as head coach of Macon-East. Also returning is 1,000-yard rusher John Martin.

Lott thinks the Patriots have his team outmanned when it comes to size.

"I think they (PLAS) are a little bit bigger then we are, but we may be quicker," said Lott. "We went to Troy and played them last year and they played us one of our toughest games."

With just one win this year, head coach Mack Williams is looking for something positive to spark his team.

"We’ve got 14 seniors on this squad and they need something positive to happen to them before they get out of here," he said.

The Patriots finish out the season at home against Hooper and Dixie in the next two weeks.

However, injuries have not been a problem this year for the Patriots, a testament to the conditioning program during the offseason.

"We’re banged up, but that’s what you expect at this time of they year," he said. "We’ve been blessed in that we haven’t had any major injuries."

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. in Cecil.