The Pike County Bulldogs and Abbeville Yellow Jackets are no strangers to competition. The two teams meet on an annual basis not only on the football field, but on the baseball field and basketball court as well.

The two teams will renew their rivalry on the football field Friday night when the Bulldogs pay a visit to Memorial Stadium in Abbeville.

“It’s very big,” Pike County head coach Doug Holland said. “We know a lot about each other. They’re a very competitive group and we’re a competitive group. We’re not that far apart. I think I read somewhere that we have played each other around 50 times. It’s something that has been going a long time and we both get excited for the game.”

The Bulldogs will arrive in Abbeville riding a four-game winning streak. Along with being 4-0 on the season, the Bulldogs are a perfect 3-0 in region play.

Although this game won’t be a region game for the two rivals, there will still be plenty to play for on Friday night.

After allowing 13 points in the season-opening win over Alabama Christian, the Bulldog defense has allowed a total of 13 points in their last three games.

“I think the defense is pretty good,” Holland said. “We work a lot with our formations when it comes to identifying things. We try to pay attention details, things that some people may not think is important. We do a lot of film work and breakdowns so it gives us an edge on what we want to do.”

The Bulldogs have size advantage at each level of the defense, but Holland believes the strength of his defense is their mental approach to each play.

“It’s the will of the players to get it done,” Holland said. “I think strength-wise, we are strong in a lot aspects. The mental part is being able to gel together and be able to work together in tough situations. I think the mental part of it is probably our strongest suit.”

The Yellow Jackets, like the Bulldogs, are 4-0 on the season. They are coming off a 56-7 win over Houston County last Friday night.

On the season, they are averaging 44 points per game. They have scored a total of 106 points in the last two weeks.

“They ran the ball against us last year and I know they’re going to do the same thing,” Holland said. “Hopefully we can do a better job than we did last year of attacking. This year they have a really good team. They are going to run the ball a lot because they have two or three backs. We are going to have our hands full.”

Pike County knocked of the Yellow Jackets 20-14 last season.