The Pike Patriots fell to Monroe Academy 28-0 on Friday night in a battle of the unbeaten. The loss for the Patriots drops them to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in region play, which puts them one game behind the Volunteers for first place in Region 2.

“We made a lot of mistakes,” said head coach Gene Allen. “Monroe has a good football team. We knew coming in they had one. Their line is very physical and their backs are good. We knew it was going to be a challenge. We played toe-to-toe with them in the first half except for us shooting ourselves in the foot. Hopefully we get to meet them again later and hopefully the outcome will be a little different.”

It was a first half full of excitement despite the fact that only 7 points were scored. The Patriots entered the Volunteers side of the field four times without getting on the scoreboard.

In three drives, in which the Patriots advanced into Monroe territory, mistakes prevented the Patriots from marching down the field.

“We shot ourselves in the foot too much in the first half,” Allen said. “We had several bad snaps and had a couple of turnovers. It was several things in the first half and we should have gotten points on the board. It would have made the whole game different.”

The Patriots held the potent Volunteer offense scoreless until they got into the endzone with :56 seconds remaining on the clock in the first half.

Quarterback Carter Ledkins faked running up the middle before floating a pass over the Patriot defensive line into the waiting arms of Colby Higdon to put Monroe up 7-0.

The Volunteers came out in the second half and scored in three of their first four second half possessions to pull away from the Patriots.

The Volunteers scored their second touchdown of the second half when John Walker Horton scored from 20 yards out to bring the score to 14-0. On their very next drive, quarterback Ledkins dove his way in for a one-yard touchdown run. The Volunteers scored their final touchdown on a nine-yard touchdown run by Grayson Stacy.

The Patriots hope to get back into the win column next week when they host Success Unlimited on senior night.