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Pleasant Home (0-1) will seek its first win of the season when it hosts a second straight home game when Fruitdale (0-0) visits on Friday, August 30, at 7 p.m.

This will be the third matchup between the two teams and their first encounter in seven seasons. The Eagles lead the all-time series 2-0 over the Pirates.

“We have seen where Fruitdale likes to spread the ball out. They have a quarterback who can throw the ball,” Head Coach Kevin Bond said. “They run zone and are shifty with the ball. Fruitdale also appears to be very well coached, and we are not looking past them.”

Last time out, Pleasant Home fell to Geneva County, 54-12, at home. Fruitdale played Bayshore Christian in a pre-season game and lost, 35-12.

Bond said he felt the Eagles match well with the Pirates.

“Our guys should be able to go up against their lines. Hopefully, we can maximize that when we play. With any team who likes to spread the ball around, if you are not sound in the secondary, you are going to have a long night,” he said.

Bond added that his team must focus on certain aspects leading into this week’s contest.

“We need to work on our defensive containment and prevent our opponents’ players from getting to the outside. We need to be more physical, which disappointed me in our first game. I felt like offensively, we played well but lost our running back in the game due to a shoulder injury. He is not out for the season, but it greatly hampered our offense. We will utilize some other guys in his place for now.”

Although it was a tough first game for the Eagles, their morale is not down.

“I was proud of the way we fought and did not quit. Last week’s score may not indicate that, but we did some good things in the game and will build off those,” Bond said.

Pleasant Home earned a home shutout against Fruitdale during the previous matchup in 2017, 27-0.