The Pike Liberal Arts School Patriots hope to get back into the win column Friday night when they host Evangel Christian Academy in a non-region game.

Patriot head coach Gene Allen has preached physicality all week long to his players after the team struggled in last week’s 21-13 loss to Morgan Academy.

“We have to get more physical, especially up front. That’s where games are won and lost. Last week we didn’t tackle well. We missed way too many tackles,” Allen said.

He said the team is focusing on its defense. “Defense is about being physical, “ Allen said.

With the new rules that limit full contact in practice, Allen has had to be creative in how he teaches his team to be more physical.

“We are just doing a little more live tackling this week and learning to be in the right position and where you are supposed to be. You try to not get anybody hurt in practice, but we have done more this week,” he said. “We had an inside drill on Monday that was live, so we got some good work in running the ball in between the tackles. The kids responded really well, and they loved the practice on Monday.”

Evangel Christian comes to Troy with a 1-2 overall record and a 1-2 record in their region following a 67-0 loss to Edgewood Academy.

The Patriots went to Montgomery a year ago and walked away with a 34-6 win, but this year they expect a fight from the visiting Lions.

“They have some really good skill guys. I think they are better than they were last year,” Allen said. “We have to be physical and be able to run to the football and make some stops. Offensively we are going to have to take the ball and stay away from penalties. We can’t get holding penalties and stuff like that.”

The Patriots will play the second of three straight home games. After losing last week, the Patriots are itching to take advantage of the home stand before they return to the road.

“You always want to defend your field. There is always something to someone else coming in and beating you on your own field. It’s not a good thing. I don’t care who it is nobody wants to lose at home,” Allen said. “Fortunately we have one this week and next week for homecoming, so we have two more weeks where we can defend our turf.”

The Patriots and Lions will kick things off at 7 p.m. Friday night at Delaney Kervin Field.