Hunter Wilson/Daily News Allen County-Scottsville running back Hunter York (left) runs the ball Wednesday as the Patriots’ Jacob Drummond attempts a tackle in practice at Allen County-Scottsville High School in Scottsville. The top-seeded Patriots host second-seeded Lone Oak, which reached last year’s Class 4A state championship game, on Friday in the second round of the 4A playoffs.

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SCOTTSVILLE — Allen County-Scottsville’s playoff showdown Friday against visiting Lone Oak figures to be rife with challenges.

Among the tests the Patriots must pass: Staying focused through the pre-game hype.

Top-seeded Allen County-Scottsville will host a second-round playoff game for the first time in school history, according to Patriots coach Brad Hood, and anticipation is understandably intense. Store fronts are decorated in red and blue, Patriots clothing lines the halls at ACSHS and the crowd at Patriot Stadium is expected to be large and loud.

“Last year the boys went through a tough time (finishing 1-9), and this is kind of a reward for the tough times ... ,” Hood said this week. “We’re on the excited train right now, and we’re just going to stay on board and hopefully it’ll carry us a while longer.”

Perhaps most telling, folks around Scottsville aren’t yet talking much about the upcoming hoops season, according to senior lineman Tyler Arterburn.

In the last three seasons, Allen County-Scottsville went a combined 9-22, reaching the postseason only in 2006. But this year the Patriots are 8-3 - their best record after 11 games since 2002 - and the mood is different.

“There’s a lot of excitement that we’re not really used to as a football team and as a program - and as a city, even,” Arterburn said. “Everybody’s focused on football, nobody’s ready for basketball. Used to, they’d be ready for basketball about five weeks ago and be ready for our season to be over. Now it’s just like they want to see us go on. It’s kind of like a revival for the city.”

Boosting the locals’ energy is the looming visit from second-seeded Lone Oak (10-1), which reached the Class 4A championship game last season. Fresh off a 31-24 victory over third-seeded Warren East last Friday in Paducah, the Purple Flash is among the state’s offensive leaders, averaging 52.2 points and 448.2 yards a game.

Hood recognizes that the stakes and the caliber of opponent are probably too much for his players to ignore. So instead of downplaying the buildup to Friday’s contest, Hood simply hopes the Patriots find a balance between work and fun.

“I think the nerves will set in,” Hood said. “They’ve set in on me quicker than in a normal week. Hopefully they won’t set in with the kids yet - I just want them to soak up the experience. This is going to be a team that’s going to be remembered for a long time at Allen County.”

Especially if the Patriots beat Lone Oak. Allen County-Scottsville handily dispatched fourth-seeded Muhlenberg North 63-28 last Friday, scoring 56 points on its first 20 plays. But Lone Oak had a tougher go against Warren East - a team Allen County-Scottsville knocked off 19-6 on Sept. 19. The Purple Flash stopped the Raiders’ final drive to preserve the 31-24 victory.

Lone Oak and Warren East played on a wet and muddy field, conditions that slowed the powerful Purple Flash offense. While somewhat uncharacteristic, Hood said the contest might offer a peek into Friday’s meeting.

“It helped us a lot, because Warren East plays more or less the same style of football that we play,” Hood said. “And most of the teams Lone Oak’s played - with the exception of Muhlenberg North (which Lone Oak defeated 49-22 on Oct. 24) - play a pretty wide-open offense.

“East gets in the I (formation) and they’ll run some option ... so it allowed us to at least see defensively what they were going to try to do against us.”

The weather in Paducah last week forced Lone Oak to rely heavily on a running game that is considerably more potent than in 2007, when then-quarterback Corey Robinson threw for more than 5,000 yards and 91 touchdowns. Lone Oak has rushed for 1,974 yards so far this season, compared to only 662 in 15 games last year.

Lone Oak QB Jamarielle Brown paces the offense with 2,520 passing yards and 36 touchdowns, but the Purple Flash connected on no touchdown passes against Warren East. In fact, Lone Oak managed only 77 passing yards and was outgained 256-181 in total offense.

Brown also leads Lone Oak in rushing, with 841 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Allen County-Scottsville, meanwhile, uses a stable of rushers to average 233 ground yards a game, led by sophomore running back Brandon Boards. Boards had 114 yards and three touchdowns against Muhlenberg North and has 822 yards and 13 TDs on the season.

Patriots junior quarterback Cory Cooper has thrown for 917 yards and seven touchdowns. The balanced offensive production has caught the attention of Lone Oak coach Jack Haskins.

“We have to control their offense,” Haskins said. “We have to get them off the field, if we possibly can, so we can run our offense.

“They’re a very good ball-control team and they do things real well. ... They do an awful good job coaching, and watching on film, they’ve got a lot of kids with a desire to play hard.”

After the 2007 state championship game in Louisville - which Lone Oak lost 49-7 to Lexington Catholic - Friday’s game will be only the second the Purple Flash has played away from home in two postseasons. Couple that with what’s essentially a three-hour bus ride to Scottsville, and it’s natural to think the Patriots own a notable home-field advantage.

The Purple Flash, however, hasn’t lost a true road game since Sept. 29, 2006, and currently boasts an 11-game winning streak on opponents’ fields.

“You never know, it’s tough any time you’ve got to travel that distance to play football,” Haskins said. “You’ve got to not let that hamper your ability to play. ... (But) we haven’t traveled that distance (in the playoffs) since the state tournament, and we got our butts kicked.”

Arterburn, though, doesn’t expect a sluggish Lone Oak squad to arrive in Scottsville on Friday evening.

“It’s playoff football,” he said. “I don’t think the bus ride will matter that much. It’ll still be a good game.”