DAPHNE, Ala.—On the road again. That’s where the Admirals will be Friday night for round three of the Class 3A state football playoffs. Bayside travels to meet Region 1 rival Straughn who got the best of the Admirals 40-22 in the regular season.

Bayside is 8-4 heading into the quarterfinals after a 32-18 road win over Pike County in Brundidge last week and a post-season opening win at Gordo. Straughn’s 9-2 Tigers advanced with a 29-20 win at previously undefeated Dale County.

 “We were hoping Dale County would help us out and we would get to play at home, but it didn’t work out,’ said Bayside head coach Phil Lazenby who is taking the gridiron Ads to the quarterfinal round for the second time in three years.

“We’re getting use to it,” he said of the traveling. “We have to since we won’t get to play at home at all this post-season. But the kids are excited. We know we have our work cut out for us. Straughn is bigger in size, player-to-player matchups, and they are deeper. They have a lot more kids (24 seniors) and they are all experienced and  talented. Coach (Trent) Taylor and his staff do a great job. It’s hard to prepare for them because they are really just so good offensively and defensively—and disciplined and well coached. But I know our guys are going to give all they can. And if we don’t hurt ourselves with too many mistakes we can give ourselves a chance. We hope to learn from having played them. Obviously we did some things that didn’t work earlier. We’ll see soon if we can make better adjustments this time.”

The win over Pike County was the sixth in row for Bayside, but a painful one. The Admirals lost senior two-way running back/receiver/linebacker Zack Dyas to a broken leg early in the game. PHS led at the half by two points.

“We will definitely miss Zack,” Lazenby said. “We were all hoping it was not broken, but it is. He’s one of guys who plays both ways a lot and makes a big difference on both sides of the ball. One of our leaders in reception and rushing yardage and tackles. “We had to adjust (at PHS) with him out and now looks like the rest of the year, too. But everybody stepped up. I’m very proud of our kids. They don’t quit. They’re having fun. We all are and they want to keep going. Our fans are great. We had a huge crowd up there and it really means a lot to the kids.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. in Andalusia. For directions, see: http://www.maxpreps.com/high-schools/straughn-tigers-%28andalusia,al%29/map.htm