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The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots (1-0) will try to maintain their momentum after a week one win when they travel to Daphne to face off against the Bayside Academy Admirals (1-0) this Friday, Sept. 1.

Pike Lib is coming off a hard-fought 16-14 win over Zion Chapel in the season opener, but head coach William Moguel knows there is plenty of room for improvement.

“I was really pleased with the way the guys played,” Moguel said. “We still have a lot of stuff to work on but they dug down deep and kept fighting and playing hard for four quarters. We were fortunate enough to pull out that win.”

Pike Lib’s Kacey Morgan tallied 74 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries against Zion Chapel, while quarterback Dawson Bradford – brother of Troy defensive back KC Bradford – completed 11-of-17 passes for 127 yards and a rushing touchdown. Receiver Michael Vaughn also pitched in with three catches for 75 yards.

Things won’t get any easier for Pike Lib this week as they face off against a much bigger opponent in Class 4A Bayside Academy. The Admirals are coming off a 33-7 win over Elberta last week and went 6-5 in 2022 with a fourth straight playoff appearance. Bayside’s squad is full of talented athletes, none more so than 6-foot-5-inch, 288-pound defensive lineman Graham Uter, who earned All-State honors last season and is committed to play college football at SMU.

“They are a very talented football team and are well coached,” Moguel said of Bayside. “They have some Division I players on their team. So, it will be a tough task. I told our guys we’re going to go out and we’re going to fight and battle and we’re not going to back down from anyone.”

Moguel said that it was imperative that the Patriots fix their mental mistakes after being flagged 12 times against Zion Chapel last week.

“It’s just about execution,” Moguel said. “We have to do a better job of executing and cut out the stupid penalties and more than anything, we have to get ourselves in a little bit better shape. We know we have low numbers, so we’re going to have to be able to play hard for four full quarters.”

Pike Lib will play Bayside Academy on Friday at 7 p.m. at Freedom Field in Daphne.