The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots fell for the first time of the season last week to the Monroe Academy Volunteers. They look to close out region play on a high note this Friday night against Success Unlimited.

The Patriots (8-1, 3-1) came up short in earning a region championship last week. With just one region game remaining, the Patriots have shifted their focus to the Mustangs.

“We are trying to not talk about it anymore,” said head coach Gene Allen. “We’re trying to put our attention on the next one because it’s a region game.”

Before flushing the game out of their system, they spent time watching film in efforts to learn from their mistakes.

“We watch film every week on everybody,” Allen said. “We watched that film on Sunday and talked about the things that we did wrong. We went out this week to try and get better at what we are doing, trying to correct stuff we messed up on.”

Monroe took the opening drive of the second half and got into the endzone to give them a 14-0 lead. The Volunteer run game scored three of the four touchdowns on Friday night.

“I told the kids after they came out in the second half and scored it took the wind out of our sails,” Allen said. “I think they still played hard, but I think the concentration level was a little different. We knew their strength was offensive line. They came out with two extra linemen and ran the ball right at us. Their line is their strong point.”

The Patriots welcome in a team new to AISA football on Friday night in the Mustangs. This is year one of the Mustang program and they are still a mystery for a lot of the teams in AISA.

“It’s a new team,” Allen said. “Honestly, nobody really knows a lot about them other than what’s on film. They’re really athletic and huge. We are going to have to go out there and play well, do the little things and protect the football.”

The Mustangs come into Troy with a 2-6 record and 1-3 in region play. They fell to Macon-East Academy last week 42-20 and are currently on a four-game losing streak.

“They’re young,” Allen said. “Some of their best players are sophomores and juniors.”
The Patriots are locked into the second position in Region 2 and even though the final region game of the season won’t change anything, the Patriots are preparing for it just like any other game.

“We are going to go out and treat it like any other game,” Allen said. “We’ll try to go out and get the win. It’s the next one on the list and we are trying to get back on the winning trail.”

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.