The 2019 football season is upon us as six local high school football teams began their season this Friday night.

Although four local teams will be playing in exhibition games, the Pike Liberal Arts Patriots and the Ariton Purple Cats play their first regular season games on the road Friday night.

Although it’s just an exhibition game, the game of the night will be the annual cross-county showdown between Charles Henderson and Pike County in the new-look Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy.

The Bulldogs look to bounce back after the Trojans won a tight 10-6 game last season. 

“Our guys are excited about playing and I’m pretty sure Charles Henderson is excited about playing also,” said head coach Fred Holland. “It’s a big rivalry game and everyone is looking forward to the season. It’s something that we are looking forward to.”

The Trojans finished last season with a 3-7 record, while the Bulldogs went 10-3 and made a trip to the third round of the postseason.

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots had their first 10-win season since their state championship in 2009. The Patriots will look to pick up their first win of the 2019 season when they travel to Selma to take on the John T. Morgan Senators, who finished last season 9-3 and advanced to the postseason.

The Ariton Purple Cats also officially begin their 2019 season on Friday night. They travel to take on Dale County.

“We jump right into it,” said head coach Steven Kilcrease. “There are some negatives to that, but I like it.”

The Purple Cats continued a trend a season ago by advancing a step further in the postseason. They finished the season with a 9-4 record and advanced to the third round of the state playoffs where they fell to Highland Home 28-14. The Warriors finished last season 4-6, but defeated the Purple Cats 41-19.

The Goshen Eagles travel to take on Wicksburg. The Eagles found themselves in the playoffs after posting a 4-7 record a season ago. They will be taking on a Wicksburg team that went 7-4.

The Rebels will also play in a jamboree game on Friday when they travel to play Houston Academy. The Rebels finished 5-5 last year. It was the first time since 2011 that the Rebels finished at or above the .500 mark.

Every game this Friday night will begin at 7 p.m.