After a long spring and summer of working hard at fundamentals and getting familiar with the playbook, the young Pike County Bulldogs get to strap it on and go one-on-one with the arch rival Charles Henderson Trojans this Friday.

“We are very excited that we won’t be hitting on each other,” said Bulldogs head coach Fred Holland. “We will have the opportunity to play someone else. We are playing a tough, physical team and we look forward to the rivalry game.”

This game isn’t just for the players. The winner of this game and their community gets to have bragging rights for the next 365 days.

“Everybody in the county is looking forward to seeing the game,” Holland said. “Our fans are excited about it, and I know their fans are excited.”

The game may not mean anything when it comes to the two team’s records at the end of the year, but it is more important than an exhibition game.

“It means a lot. We know their players, and they know ours,” Holland said. “It’s very exciting, and it’s for bragging rights. I can’t say enough how important it is for our guys to get out there and play.”

The Bulldogs lost 13 players to graduation after last season and largely fielding a new team this season. “We have so many guys that are unproven. Some of them are very young,” Holland said. “ It will give them something to work on that doesn’t include hitting ourselves. This is something that could only be positive.”

The Bulldogs know they have an intense matchup against a larger school that plays with intensity.

“We have to take care of the ball and play good on special teams,” Holland said. “We are going to have to make big plays and prevent them from stifling some of the things that we do best.”

The Bulldogs and the Trojans will go head to head at 7 p.m. on Friday night at Bulldogs Stadium in Brundidge.