The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots have hit the field for their summer workouts in advance of the 2018 football season.

The Patriots ­–under head coach Gene Allen –have been practicing three days out of the week in order to get ready for the upcoming season. They have had to handle the weather the last few week including rain and soaring temperatures.

“We have been doing a lot of 7-on-7 stuff on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s,” Allen said. “We are working on coverages and plays and getting used to the weather. It’s been a bear out there the last few days.”

Allen believes he has a good amount of players on his roster so far this summer.

“We have a decent number,” Allen said. “We are pretty decent skill-wise with receivers. We have a few linemen that played linebacker so that will help us out defensively. As coaches, we have to be smart.”

The Patriots finished last season with a 7-2 record in the regular season. They made it to the postseason, where they lost to Tuscaloosa Academy 28-6. After the season came to a close they had to say goodbye to quarterback Reed Jinright and Wood Jinright, along with many other impactful seniors.

“We have a good group of seniors coming back,” Allen said. “It hasn’t been that bad. It has been different. Wood and Reed are both very good players that could do a lot of things for you. Reed can make adjustments and play really well defensively. The younger guys, the guys that we have moving up have been doing a good job. We have had some really good senior leadership and hopefully that will carry on through.”

Even there are no wins or losses to be gained in the summer, there is still plenty to play for, including improving fundamentally.

“You can do a pretty good bit in the summer now,” Allen said. “I keep the linemen every Tuesday and Thursday and do some footwork drills with them. We do a lot of fundamental type stuff and run basic plays to get a lot of that stuff behind us.”

The Patriots will begin the season on August 17 against Morgan Academy.