Brantley hits the road again to visit the Pleasant Home Eagles (1-7) Friday, but the 2015 season has taught the Bulldogs not to underestimate any opponent.

The Bulldogs are facing an Eagles team fresh off their first win of the season against the Florala Wildcats.

Though the Eagles have only tallied one win on the season, Brantley head football coach Ashley Kilcrease said that appearances can be deceiving.

“They’ve only won one game, but they’re a much better football team than I thought we would see on film,” Kilcrease said.

“A lot of games have been really close, and they’ve had some close losses.  And we’ve already proven that we’re not the type of team to take anybody lightly, because we almost lost to Red Level when we went down there and we weren’t ready to play.  So we tried to learn from that experience and hopefully not take them lightly and be prepared.”

Speaking of near losses, Kilcrease said that last Friday’s nail-biting win over the McKenzie Tigers proved a huge boost to morale for the team, and it also secured a home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

For Kilcrease, the importance of that advantage can’t be overstated.

“We have a really good stadium, and when people pack it out it’s a great atmosphere,” Kilcrease said.

He added that the key to victory Friday—and ultimately, for the remainder of the season—would lie in correcting a mistake that very nearly cost the Bulldogs last week with McKenzie.

“We just need to play sound all the way across the board, especially up front, and dominate the line of scrimmage,” Kilcrease said.

“I thought we did that in the first half against McKenzie, but then they dominated the second half and almost came back and beat us.  We need to handle our job up front on both sides of the ball, because that’s where it starts.”

The Bulldogs travel to Pleasant Home Friday, and kickoff is set for 7 p.m.