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The Pike County Bulldogs return to the football field this Friday, Oct. 27, after a much-needed bye week to face off against the Daleville Warhawks in a Class 3A, Region 2 game.

Pike County currently sits in a tie for fourth place in the region with Opp, who holds a head-to-head win over the Bulldogs. Pike County is coming off a bye week last week, which gave PCHS a chance to sort of reset moving forward.

“It was a much needed off week,” PCHS Coach Mark Hurt emphasized. “We got to work on some things and really worked on getting our mindset different. It’s been a tough few weeks with everything that has happened and we just tried to get past it and get back to being ourselves and back to playing football.”

Opp faces off with No.1 seed Straughn this week and battles Ashford in another region game next week, while Pike County plays Daleville this week and the current third place Houston Academy next week. With Opp holding the head-to-head edge over Pike County, every week is a must win but Hurt says his team already treats every week like a must win.

“Every week is a must win for us but it’s always been that way,” Hurt said. “Our backs are against the wall right now but we always treat every week like a must win.”

Pike County’s last game came on Oct. 13, a 46-26 loss to Providence Christian. While the final score may look lopsided it was a close game throughout until turnovers and mistakes doomed the Bulldogs in the second half.

Pike County rolled up 263 yards on the ground against Providence Christian with Nemo Williams tallying 179 yards and a touchdown, while receiver Braylin Jackson caught two passes for 44 yards and a score and also had two carries for 59 yards and a touchdown. Que Carter returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown, as well. Unfortunately, the Bulldog defense gave up 258 yards through the air to the Eagles and the Bulldog offense turned the ball over three times.

Daleville is coming off a 20-15 upset over Providence Christian last week.

“They’re a team that is getting better every week,” Hurt said of Daleville. “They have a quarterback that is very elusive, a really good running back, some receivers that can catch and run good routes. They have good size up front and they just beat Providence Christian last week. They have been playing pretty good and have gotten better and better over the past few weeks.”

As the Bulldogs look to try and secure a return to the playoffs, Hurt wants to see his team play with passion this Friday.

“I just want our guys to come out and set some goals this week and play well and meet those goals,” he continued. “Be ourselves and enjoy the game and paly and execute the game plan and play with some passion.”

Pike County hosts Daleville this Friday night at 7 p.m.