The Linden Patriots (10-1) travel to Montgomery on Friday night to take on the St. Jude Pirates (7-4) in the second round of the 1A playoffs.

Linden head coach Andro Williams said St. Jude has a lot of athletes and that they are a team that can cause trouble for an offense.

“The have a lot of athletes,” he said, “and they get to the ball. We have to play assignment football against this team and keep them in check. They have an aggressive attack defensively.”

He added that the Pirates’ biggest threat is their quarterback.

“Their quarterback is about six feet tall and weighs about 230,” Williams said. “He can throw the ball about a mile. We have to make him scramble and throw when he doesn’t want to. They have backs and receivers that can run and they play sound defensively.”

Williams said at this point in the season, it is “all about advancing from week to week,” and that his team has to “play sound football” and do what they need to do.