Fans will get their first live-action look at the 2009 Pike Liberal Arts Patriots football team Friday, as PLAS is set to take on Crenshaw Christian Academy in a preseason exhibition game.

The game will be the first time that the new Pike Lib offense will take the field, something head coach Steven Kilcrease said will be a good test.

“We just want to see some more consistency,” Kilcrease said. “We’ve looked really good for most of fall practice. We just want to get the formations right and get in the right position.”

Kilcrease said while the team has looked at the tape of last year’s game to try and help it prepare for this week’s contest, there should be no surprises in the exhibition since both coaches have shared their game plans with each other.

“We just have really looked at our game from last year,” Kilcrease said. “To be honest, we’re just using this to work on us. We tell each other what we’re going to run and how we’re going to do it, so they have an idea of what we’re going to do and we have an idea of what they’re going to do.”

Kilcrease also said he expects the CCA team to play the same gritty style of football that it is known for.

“We know they’re going to be a scrappy bunch,” Kilcrease said. “They’re going to come after us. We saw that last year when we played them here. They came out and hit us in the mouth those first few plays and woke us up a little bit. They’re going to play hard and be well-coached.”

The game against CCA is one that has become somewhat of a budding rivalry, albeit a very respectful one.

“It’s a good little rivalry,” Kilcrease said. “Our guys know some of those guys. I think there’s mutual respect. It’s not a bitter rivalry whatsoever.”

The format for the jamboree even dictates a less intense game, as the starters for both teams will play only the first three quarters, something Kilcrease said will help to simultaneously prevent injuries and help build depth.

“The guys who are a little banged up are going to play some,” Kilcrease said. “They’re just not going to play the entire time. We’re just not going to risk it. This is a jamboree. This is for us to get better and building depth gets us better.”