The Patriot offense gained a total of 332 yards as Pike Lib defeated Clarke Prep 16-9 on Friday.

“I thought we played OK tonight,” said Patriots head coach Gene Allen. “I thought we made some mistakes out there. It was one of those tough, physical, and back yard football games. They lined up and tried to run it down our throat.”

“I was proud of our guys they moved the ball a little bit, but for the most part we got our stops.”

The Patriots earned 296 yards on the ground, led by J.T. Ball who finished with 90 yards on eight carries.

“Everybody ran the ball well,” Allen said. “Everybody had about the same amount of yards. It was one of those overall good nights. We ran the ball really well, and we had a lot of yards. I was really pleased with that.”

Reece Burbage scored two touchdowns including a 36-yard touchdown grab from quarterback Reed Jinright.

Burbage also scored on the Patriot’s first drive on the night with a 7-yard touchdown.

The defense forced two turnovers, one of which was an interception by Austin Allen that he returned for a touchdown to score the game’s final points.

“What they do puts a lot of strain on you,” Allen said. “They line up and run it right at you. Overall our kids stayed in there pretty well, and we got some stops.”

Allen said the win gives the Patriots momentum at the beginning of the season. “It’s great. It’s a big momentum thing for us. We needed to get that going. Now we just have to continue it during the week and get better.”

The Patriots will host Abbeville Christian next Friday. Kickoff is 7 p.m.