The Pike Liberal Arts varsity football team will not be the only ones hitting the field this fall. The Pike Peewee team has also begun practice and is hoping for an exciting and fun season.

The Patriots Peewee team fields a young roster as they lost many of their players to the junior varsity level.

“We have a young group,” said head coach Kevin Adams. “We had a lot of sixth graders move up to JV. I only have four guys back that played last year.”

The Patriots no longer have a Termite team, so the Peewee Patriots will now consist of players from fourth grade through sixth grade.

In all, the Patriots have 24 players on their roster and many have had their fair share of success playing football for the Patriots.

“This same age group, when they were in Termites, went undefeated,” Adams said. “We lost a few players, but we’ve still got the same core players that we had two years ago when they went undefeated. I think we have a chance to be really good. We are going to be young, but we have some really good fifth graders.”

So far in practice, Adams and the staff have put in the ‘Power I’ formation and most recently implemented shotgun.

“We are going to be a little smaller than we have been,” Adams said. “We are going to try and spread them out and use the speed that we have.”

The Patriots will play in seven games this season. They will play Escambia at home and Morgan, Monroe and Autauga both home and away.

“Those are the elite programs in AISA,” Adams said. “It’s definitely not what you would call a cupcake schedule. We have some tough football teams, so the boys will have to be prepared.”

Members of the Pike Peewee team are Cody Law, Houston Gunter, Kade Brookins, Luke Deloney, Dawson Bradford, Dalton Jordan, Trace Jones, Jaxon Wade, Parker Adams, Jackson Booth, Luke Sikes, Weston Garrett, Pruitt Vaughn, Wilson Cotton, Jackson Cleveland, Tyler Harrison, Luke Barron, Brody Marsh, Dylan Atwell, Rhodes Baker, Tanner Tyson, Hunter Holmes, Coy Bell and Brayden Pyron.

The Patriots first game will be on August 22 at home against Escambia beginning at 5 p.m.