Greenville, Pike Road set to meet for regional championship

PIKE ROAD, Ala. (WSFA) - It’s a matchup that has all the makings of a prime-time football game; Greenville will travel to Pike Road Friday, with both teams hoping to walk away with a championship.

“This is what everybody plays for, right?” said Pike Road head coach Patrick Browning. “It’s gonna be a good environment, it’s gonna be a packed crowd, and there’s gonna be a lot of electricity in the air.”

Both Greenville and Pike Road hold a spotless 5-0 mark in 5A-R2, but of course, only one can win the the title.

The Patriots are coming off a bye week and have the luxury of hosting the game, but as we saw last week, the Tigers travel well and perform well on the road. Although the stakes are high ahead of Friday’s game, Browning says his guys are ready for the challenge.

“We prepare for everybody the same way each week. The game plan is going to be a little bit different depending on who you’re playing, but our preparation doesn’t change,” he said. “[Greenville is] extremely athletic, and they’re well coached. They’re physical up front on both sides, so we’ve got to match their physicality and we’ve got to just bring it for four quarters and I think we’ll be okay.”

As for Greenville, the Tigers have proven to be resilient in 2021, with their only loss happening midseason to Wetumpka. Since then, the black and gold has rattled off three straight, outscoring opponents 81-41 in three weeks.

“I think we’ve had a good week, and we’ve put together a good game plan, so we’ll see how it works out, but we feel good about where we’re at and we’re just excited for the opportunity,” said Greenville head coach Josh McLendon. “[Pike Road is] very explosive, very well coached and just an overall good football team so it should be a good challenge.”

Both teams have already secured a spot in the playoffs, and they’ve also locked up home field advantage for the first round, but wouldn’t it be sweet to start the post-season with a regional title under your belt? We’ll find out who gets that title tomorrow at 7:00 at Patriot Stadium in Pike Roads.

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