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By Caleb Thomas

The Pike County Bulldogs (3-6, 3-3) made the drive to play the Dale County Warriors (7-2, 5-1) in a pivotal region matchup on Friday night. Pike County battled but ultimately fell 43-34 in a back-and-forth game with a tough Dale County squad.

“I thought we played hard,” said Pike County head coach Mark Hurt. “They just made more plays than we did.”

The region-leading Warriors scored on their first two drives to take a 13-0 lead before Pike County came storming back behind explosive performances from Quentavian Carter and Braylin Jackson.

A 28-yard reception from Kamarian Toney helped the Bulldogs drive, and Carter scored on a 20-yard rushing touchdown to cut the lead to 13-7. Dale County scored again to widen the lead, but the Pike County defense dug its heels in.

“We had to adjust and change our box a little bit to get some help in the run game,” Hurt said. “We made good adjustments, but they just made more big plays than us.”

Jackson took a fumble 43 yards to the house in the second quarter, trimming the lead to 20-14. The Warriors wouldn’t score for the remainder of the half, with Pike County making a heroic fourth-and-one stop in their own territory.

While the Bulldogs offense threatened after nice runs by Carter and Jackson, they couldn’t cash in before halftime. Carter finished the night with 9 carries for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and Jackson with 85 yards and a touchdown on 6 carries.

Pike County opened the second half with the ball and wasted no time getting on the board. Carter weaved around the defense en route to a 69-yard touchdown run, handing the Bulldogs a 21-20 lead.

A long, methodical drive from Dale County ended up just short of the end zone. The Warriors were stopped after getting down to the 1-yard line, and settled for a field goal to take a 23-21 lead with just over four minutes left in the third quarter.

The second-half fireworks continued, with Jackson answering just two plays into the ensuing drive. The wideout took a direct snap 65 yards to the end zone, handing Pike County a 28-23 lead.

“We’re getting better,” Hurt said “We have some good players and just have to mature in some areas on the offensive line.”

A series of controversial defensive pass interference calls, however, allowed Dale County to reclaim the lead with a touchdown to start the fourth quarter to make it 29-28.

“[The penalties] are judgment calls and I think they could’ve gone either way,” Hurt said. “I felt like some of them could’ve been no-calls, but that’s just playing on the road.”

A fumble on the ensuing drive cost Pike County, as Warriors quarterback Dallas Hedstrom found a wide-open receiver for a 29-yard gain and ran it in for a score the next play. A two-point conversion made it 37-28 Dale County.

A holding penalty stalled the Bulldogs’ next drive, forcing them to punt the ball away with 6:25 left. The Warriors were able to drain the clock with an efficient run game, sealing the deal with a few back-breaking runs from Damarkus Smith and a touchdown run to make it 4-28 with three minutes left.

The Bulldogs scored one more touchdown as Kahlil Foster reeled in a 27-yard touchdown reception with under a minute left, but Dale County recovered the onside kick.

Pike County closes out the regular season next week at New Brockton, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.