Keith head coach Harry Crum knows his team will have its hands full Friday night with a road playoff game at No. 3 ranked Georgiana, a team that has been rising in the Alabama Sports Writers Association rankings throughout the season.

It’s hard to argue any team in class 1A enters the playoffs playing any better than Georgiana (9-1). The Panthers feature a high-powered offense that has topped 38 points in eight of their ten games this season and all nine of their wins have been by 11 points or more.

The playoffs are also starting at the right time for the Bears (4-6), who won their last three games of the year by a total score of 126-34.

Crum said over the last month or so, the Bears have come together as a team, which has allowed them to get on a roll.

“We have a slogan that it’s not about me, it’s about we,” Crum said. “When you look for the total objective, what we’re trying to do, we are trying to win as a team. I think we are playing very good team ball at this particular time.”

Keith has always relied heavily on its wing-T rushing attack, which has been altered this year to include more shotgun snaps. Domonique Jones leads the way for the Bears with more than 1,700 rushing yards.

If Keith is going to end an eight game playoff losing streak that dates back to 1995, the Bears are going to have to find a way to run against a stout Panthers’ front. Georgiana is giving up only 11.6 points per game, including only 16 points in their last four contests combined.

“I’ve never had a back run for that kind of yardage,” Crum said of Jones. “But, he’s as team oriented a player as you can find and he just wants to run the ball. He will run it if he’s wet and he will run it if he’s dry.”

It’s a good thing Jones doesn’t dislike playing in wet conditions because it may be pouring rain Friday evening when the game kicks off. Forecasts call for a high chance of thunderstorms.

Due to the weather, many games around the state were moved to Thursday. Crum said moving the Keith-Georgiana game was discussed but it will remain on Friday. He’s not sure the wet weather is an advantage for either side, but he’s confident the Bears will be ready for whatever conditions are thrown their way.

“The one thing I told them is that we can control a lot of things, but the one thing we can’t control is the weather,” Crum said. “We’ve got to get in the mindset that barring lightning the game is going to be played.”

The game will also be a sort of homecoming game for Crum, who graduated from Georgiana rival Greenville High School in 1982. Greenville and Georgiana played six times while he was in high school, so he knows the Panthers’ football program well.

“It’s going to be like going home — almost,” Crum said. “It was a really, really big rivalry between us and Georgiana. I know a lot of people over there and a lot of people know me. It’ll be good to go back down there and it’ll be great if we can get a win.”

Kickoff is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. at Georgiana High School.