It's no secret that most high school football teams would generally prefer to avoid making the trek to Logan County and Man High.

The Fayetteville Pirates aren't one of those teams.

"Our kids like to go down there and play," said Fayetteville coach Frank Spangler. "I don't think they like the trip, but they like the atmosphere."

Indeed, the Pirates will likely be in store for quite a welcome Friday night when the Hillbillies play host to a Class A playoff quarterfinal matchup. The game marks the first time Man has played host to more than one playoff game in more than 20 years.

"It's been great here," said Man coach Harvey Arms. "It's been way back, I think in 1997 we had one home game. And it goes all the way back to '80s for the last time we had two home games. We had really a good crowd [last week.] They started gathering early outside the gates at 4:30. The whole community is real excited about it. It's great for us as a team to know that we have that kind of support."

Fayetteville (9-2) is no stranger to the environment at Man as the teams regularly play each other during the season. And the games are usually close, hard-fought affairs.

"It's always a good football game," said Spangler. "They play a physical-type game and our kids like to play that way. I think Man is the type of team, if you play physical with them they respect you for that."

"We've played, I guess, every year now for the last 12, 14 years," said Arms. "Just about every game in the series has been a physical, even game. Most of the games have been real close, real tight."

This year's regular-season matchup, played in Fayetteville, was no exception. Man (10-1) came away with a 23-7 victory, but the Pirates trailed just 9-7 in the third quarter before a couple of big plays by the Hillbilllies - and a miscue by the home team - put the game out of reach.

"We had a dropped punt and we had a blown coverage on a third-down situation," said Spangler. "It was 9-7 at halftime and we come out in the third quarter, that's when they had that third-and-long. We kind of lost the momentum right there when then made that big play. I think that was the turning point in the game. But a good team will make those plays."

It's no secret that most high school football teams would generally prefer to avoid making the trek to Logan County and Man High.

The Fayetteville Pirates aren't one of those teams.

"Our kids like to go down there and play," said Fayetteville coach Frank Spangler. "I don't think they like the trip, but they like the atmosphere."

Indeed, the Pirates will likely be in store for quite a welcome Friday night when the Hillbillies play host to a Class A playoff quarterfinal matchup. The game marks the first time Man has played host to more than one playoff game in more than 20 years.

"It's been great here," said Man coach Harvey Arms. "It's been way back, I think in 1997 we had one home game. And it goes all the way back to '80s for the last time we had two home games. We had really a good crowd [last week.] They started gathering early outside the gates at 4:30. The whole community is real excited about it. It's great for us as a team to know that we have that kind of support."

Fayetteville (9-2) is no stranger to the environment at Man as the teams regularly play each other during the season. And the games are usually close, hard-fought affairs.

"It's always a good football game," said Spangler. "They play a physical-type game and our kids like to play that way. I think Man is the type of team, if you play physical with them they respect you for that."

"We've played, I guess, every year now for the last 12, 14 years," said Arms. "Just about every game in the series has been a physical, even game. Most of the games have been real close, real tight."

This year's regular-season matchup, played in Fayetteville, was no exception. Man (10-1) came away with a 23-7 victory, but the Pirates trailed just 9-7 in the third quarter before a couple of big plays by the Hillbilllies - and a miscue by the home team - put the game out of reach.

"We had a dropped punt and we had a blown coverage on a third-down situation," said Spangler. "It was 9-7 at halftime and we come out in the third quarter, that's when they had that third-and-long. We kind of lost the momentum right there when then made that big play. I think that was the turning point in the game. But a good team will make those plays."

Since that loss, the Pirates have reeled off five straight wins, including an opening-round playoff victory over Wahama.

"We're playing a lot better, not turning the ball over," said Spangler. "Against Wahama, we didn't have any turnovers and I think that actually won the football game for us. We're passing more than we have in the past. In those two areas, we've really improved a lot. The thing we've done, we've gotten better every week. That's all you can ask of these kids and I think we've reached that."

Man suffered its only loss of the season, a 16-14 decision against Chapmanville, the week following the Fayetteville game. But the Hillbillies haven't missed a beat since and defeated Parkersburg Catholic 25-20 in last week's opening round.

"We feel like our defense has gotten better all season long," said Arms. "We feel like our special teams have played well. We had a breakdown or two last week, and that was unexpected. But we feel like our offense has been playing well, our guys have been blocking well."

The winner of Friday's game gets a date in the semifinals against either No. 3 Richwood or No. 6 Wirt County. Fayetteville has been eliminated from the postseason in the quarterfinals in each of the past two seasons.

"The kids realize that," said Spangler. "They want to do something about that. We really had a great practice [Wednesday]. The kids were sharp and hustling around. They really want to get after it. It should be a good game, at least I hope it is."

Reach Jeff Rider at 304-348-5122 or jri...@wvgazette.com.

THE NUMBERS

No. 7 Fayetteville (9-2) at No. 2 Man (10-1)