The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots hope to get back on the winning track on Friday night when they travel to Auburn to take on Lee-Scott Academy.

The Patriots ride into Auburn with a 1-4 record and are looking to snap a four-game losing streak that began after they picked up a win in the season opener.

“It’s been tough,” head coach Gene Allen said. “We are giving a lot of experience to the younger guys. We feel like we are getting better and better. We are going out and working on fundamentals. The kids’ attitudes have been really good. They have been working really hard. Hopefully we’ll get some positive benefits from it this week.”

The Patriots have been battling injuries in their last couple of games, but the hope is they will be returning key players in the near future.

“We would like to get some of them people back,” Allen said. “We haven’t gotten them back yet, but we are inching closer and closer. Hoping they hurry up and get here.”

Stopping the run has been a struggle for the Patriots this season. The Patriots’ lack of size up front has been issue when trying to get to and take down opposing team’s runners.

“It’s been a problem because we have been out-manned physically,” Allen said. “I don’t think the effort has been that terrible. I think we have been playing hard. We played some teams that have been really good up front with really good backs.”

This week, the Patriots will play a Warriors team that doesn’t have the size up front when compared to Pike’s previous opponents.

“Lee Scott has a football team, but size wise they are not what we played the last few weeks,” Allen said. “Macon East, Northside and Freeport all had some very big lineman. We feel like we match up a little better with Lee-Scott.”

The Warriors are 2-2 overall and 1-0 in region play. Before their bye week last Friday night, the Warriors defeated Morgan Academy 28-20. Although still a run-heavy offense, the Warriors, under new head coach Robert Johnson will have a new look.

“They’re predominately a wing-t (offense),” Allen said. “A lot of the offenses that we have seen lately were based on wing-t stuff. Lee-Scott will be more under center running a more traditional wing-t. It’s a lot of things we have seen the last few weeks so Hopefully we have a lot of that stuff down and we can play it well.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Patriots knocked off Lee-Scott a season ago 35-0.