With baseball in the rear view mirror, players are switching gears to football season. The Pike-Liberal Patriots PeeWee team is a week into practice, preparing for a fun season on the gridiron.

The team consists of fifth- and sixth-graders, many of whom are experiencing the sport of football for the first time.

“It’s an opportunity to learn about football and most of all have fun and put on some pads,” said head coach David Nelson. “We want to keep them from getting hurt but they can go out there and hit one another, as well learning something about football.”

The PeeWee Patriots will travel with both the JV and Termite teams, playing on Tuesday nights. The team will start the season Aug. 25 at Lee Scott Academy in Auburn, then play at Glenwood, at Fort Dale Academy, before returning home for four straight home games against Autauga, Lakeside School, Macon East Academy and Hooper Academy. They close out the season at Edgewood.

The road trips for the PeeWee’s will give the players the opportunity to see what it is like to play football at the high school level.

“Playing at home is fun because you have a bigger crowd. I know those fifth and sixth graders they draw a crowd and like to perform in front of them,” Nelson said. “I know Drew (Nelson) likes to go on the road and travel to different places and play on different fields week to week. It’s fun for them to get a little taste of school ball before their time with the junior varsity and varsity gets started.”

Joining Nelson on the coaching staff are Eddy Jeffcoat, Al Renfroe, Kent Dendy and Mike Chirico.

The Patriots will fill out a roster that mainly will have to play both sides of the ball during the season

“We don’t have a lot of speed on the team and we don’t have a lot of numbers,” Nelson said. “We have two weeks to get into shape, and hopefully they get into shape so they can play both sides of the ball.”