The Pleasant Home Eagles (1-1) know they face a challenge when Jacob Free and the Brantley Bulldogs come to town for a region contest on Friday night.

“They are a pretty explosive offense,” Pleasant Home head coach Chris Mason said. “They are able to throw the ball as good as anyone I’ve even seen. Their quarter back (Free) can put the ball where he wants. There is a reason he has signed as a quarterback in the SEC.”

Free is a big quarterback standing at 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 200 pounds. The senior is committed to Vanderbilt.

“We are going to have to stop Free,” Mason said. “Getting pressure on him is going to be key. If we aren’t able to get to him, then we can’t get beat deep. They score quickly and that’s what we have to avoid. We have to get them into third-and-long situations, and avoid giving up the big plays.”

Mason said that the Eagles will continue to establish the run this week against Brantley.

“We are going to continue to do what we do, and that is to establish the run,” Mason said. “For that to happen, we are going to have to do a better job of blocking up front. That’s one area that we have to get better in.”

Although the Eagles fell to McKenzie last week, Mason said that they picked up some confidence along the way.

“Last week, we able to get some things going later in the game,” Mason said. “Us scoring as much as we did late in the game really gave us a confidence boost coming into the this week.”

Mason said that Eagles also improved in the turnover department last week against McKenzie.

“We only had one turnover last week.” Mason said. “That’s something that we had been working on. I’ve seen a lot positives from this group. They have improved every week. The rise up to every challenge that I give them. That’s a testament to the senior leadership we have on the team.”

Mason said that if the Eagles can avoid the big plays, they will have a chance to win.

“We can’t give up the big plays,” Mason said. “We also can’t come out flat. I don’t want to have to hoot and holler at halftime to get them motivated. We have to come out on fire right out of the gate.”

Pleasant Home and Brantley will kickoff at 7 p.m., in Pleasant Home.