The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots came up five yards shy of a tie on Friday.

The Patriots lost their first region game to Monroe Academy 27-20.

“We knew they were going to have a good football team,” said Patriots head coach Gene Allen. “I told the guys to keep their heads up. We are still in this. We have a lot to learn from this.”

Monroe Academy was able to control the line of scrimmage throughout the early portions of the contest and ran for a total of 303 yards on the night.

“They have a couple good backs,” Allen said. “ We didn’t do things that we were supposed to do in the first half. We didn’t make the adjustments. They came out and ran some formations that we haven’t seen before.”

The Patriots received a stellar performance by senior JT Ball, who rushed for 72 yards on six carries, including one for a touchdown for 61 yards. Ball also hauled in four receptions for 130 yards, including two on the final drive that put the Patriots on the doorstep for the tying touchdown.

“He played phenomenal first half, “Allen said. “He got hurt a little bit, but still made a couple plays. He has been performing all year.”

The teams combined to score 40 points in the opening two quarters.

The Patriots took the opening drive 57-yards and scored on a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Reed Jinright. The drive lasted nine plays, highlighted by an 18-yard run by Brayden Herrera.

The Volunteers were quick to respond. They took the next drive 61 yards for the touchdown.

That drive was part of 13 unanswered points for the Volunteers in the first half. After a Herrera fumble, the Volunteers went on a lengthy drive that went 13 plays and 75 yards to give Monroe a 13-6 lead.

Ball took the ensuing kickoff 70 yards and set the Patriots up at the Volunteer 21 yard line. On third and goal Jinright connected with twin brother Wood Jinright on a 14-yard completion to even the score.

The Volunteers scored next on a seven-play, 80-yard drive.

Ball had his second big play of the half when he took the first play of the next Patriot drive 61-yards for a touchdown to even the game at 20-20.

The second half was a defensive battle, as each team had five possessions with only seven points scored.

The Volunteers scored what ended up being the game-winning touchdown after a snap flew over PLAS punter Hunter Jones’ head. Monroe Academy recovered the ball on the Patriot 33 yard line and scored on a five-yard run.

The Patriots had one final chance to tie the game after Josh Graham recovered a fumble on his own 38-yard line with 1:21 remaining.

Jinright connected on two passes to Ball to put the ball on the five-yard line. The Patriots used all four chances to punch the ball in the end zone, but came up short.

The Patriots (3-1, 1-1)ost Autaugaville next Friday.