While the campuses of Goshen High School and Pike County High School lie on opposite ends of the county, the players and coaches know one another very well.

The Eagles and Bulldogs open the 2013 regular season in Brundidge, in what is being billed as the ‘Bazzell Bowl.” Dr. Mark Bazzell serves as superintendent of the Pike County School District, and Goshen and Pike County are the only two high schools in the system.

The Bulldogs met Charles Henderson in the annual Pike County Classic last Friday, and stayed with the Trojans for much of the first half. However, the talent-rich Trojans pulled away in the second half to claim a 47-7 win.

PCHS head coach Fred Holland said that his players recognized their mistakes and have went to work this week fixing them.

“We have been improving on some of the things we did against Charles Henderson,” Holland said. “We have had a pretty good week of practice, but I know that Bart (Snyder, Goshen head coach) will have his team ready to go.”

In last week’s loss to Charles Henderson, the Bulldogs got an up-close look of the spread offense system that is similar to what Goshen uses. However, Holland said that each team has tweaks to their schemes.

“The work we got last week will definitely help us against Goshen,” Holland said. “They run some of the similar same things, but Goshen uses the quarterback as a runner a little more. I feel like that we are ready for the offense for the simple fact that we have had over two weeks of looking at nearly the same system.”

Last Thursday, the Goshen Eagles went toe-to-toe with one of the most successful football teams in the history of the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

Although the Eagles varsity squad fell to Brantley 13-0, head coach Bart Snyder said that his team is way ahead of where they were this team one season ago.

“We watched the film and saw quite a bit of things that we needed to fix,” Snyder said. “We have went to work on that this week, and feel pretty comfortable in the fact that we have gotten better. We have to get better on the ball field when those lights come, because that is when really means something.”

By playing on Thursday last week, the Eagles had an extra day to prepare for their week-one opponent, Pike County.

The Bulldogs played Charles Henderson in the annual Pike County Classic the night after Goshen’s match up with Brantley. Snyder and staff saw the Bulldogs take on the Trojans, and we impressed by what they saw.

“We know Pike County is extremely good, and have some of the best athletes in this part of the state,” said Snyder. “They played a great Charles Henderson ball team last Friday and for the first half, played right with them. They have tradition that is just unreal, but we have to stay focused on Goshen. We have to get better every day.”

Kickoff for the match-up between the two cross-county rivals is set for 7 P.m. at Bulldog Stadium in Brundidge.