The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots are fresh off a 55-7 loss to the Monroe Academy Volunteers and are looking to bounce back this week against the Ashford Academy Falcons.

Head coach Gene Allen said he was disappointed with the way his team played against Monroe. “Monroe is an excellent team,” Allen said. “They are strong everywhere. To be honest, they were a lot better than we were. I didn’t think we played very well, but a lot of that had to do with Monroe. They were so physical at the line of scrimmage that we couldn’t get our run game going.”

At this point in the season, Allen said his team’s focus is simply to improve. “We’re doing the same thing we’ve always been doing,” Allen said. “We didn’t get any better last week, but, this week, we’ve had good practices, we’re getting some kids back.”

Allen has been preaching the mantra of constant improvement to his team all year long. “We’re going to try to get a little better against Ashford,” Allen said. “Obviously, we’re going to try to go down there and end the season on a positive note. I think we can do it.”

Looking back on the season, Allen praised the work his kids put in on the field. “I think the kids worked hard all year,” Allen said. “There has always been strong effort. We were a little unlucky in the injury category. Considering the season, the attitude has been good. Obviously, it is disappointing from a win-loss perspective, but we got a lot of good experience for next year.”

Last year, Ashford defeated Pike 48-0 in Troy. This year, kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Ashford.