Together the Eagles Achieve More.
That variation on a popular sports adage reflects how the Victory Christian football team has been able to overcome the adversity it has faced this season.
Not only did the Eagles suffer key graduation losses, but they also lost two quarterbacks and had to work through three bye weeks.
Through it all, coach Chris Hamm and his assistant coaches preached a team-first concept predicated on making sure all of the players were mentally and physically ready each week. Even though the Eagles only have less than 30 players on the roster, all of them have contributed to a successful regular season.
Now Victory Christian wants more.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Victory Christian will play host to North River Christian in the opening round of the Christian Football Association playoffs. The winner of that game will play the winner of the Tabernacle-Tuscaloosa Christian game at 7 p.m. Nov. 4 in Cottondale, Ala., for the CFA championship.
“I am really pleased with the team,” Hamm said. “I said from the very beginning that we would be young in terms of age and classification and also when you looked at some of the older guys. But a couple of them performed very well for us Friday night.”
Roy Boden caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Sharp as time expired to give Victory Christian a 54-52 win against Tuscaloosa Christian. Boden, an 11th-grader, is in his first year with the team. Hamm also praised the efforts of Michael Elliott, another junior, who played some football in junior high, for catching a couple passes in the victory against the school’s archrival.
Hamm said performances like those have come every week and have been needed. The Eagles lost starting quarterback Marcus Sims (car accident) before the season started. It then lost backup quarterback Bryer Bolton (broken arm) and was forced to move Sharp, a freshman, into the position.
The lack of experience is completely different from 2010, when Landon Ellis, Tyler Jones, and Ben Williams were just three of the seniors the team looked to to lead the way.
“This has been one of the more rewarding teams to coach because they have overcome some obstacles that have helped put us in position to earn redemption against the only team we have lost to,” Hamm said.
Hamm said the Eagles have and will continue to discuss the importance of avoiding complacency. He said injuries have shown players they need to be ready at a moment’s notice, even if there is a core of 12-16 players who see a majority of the action. On Friday, freshman Cody Bolton (defensive back) and Shane Bradford (offensive line) were pressed into action and became just the latest younger players to deliver key contributions.
Hamm hopes that trend will continue for at least two more weeks. If it does, he won’t know who will be the next player to emerge and produce a big play for the Eagles.
“We have probably had more contributions from more players (than in a number of years),” Hamm said. “Two years ago when we had Parker (Eaves) at quarterback, we had pretty good numbers contribute. We had one football and we were trying to keep five or six pretty good offensive players happy with fact they thought they were contributing. This year, it is not a fact of spreading it around it is out of necessity. We don’t have one go-to guy the other team can’t stop. We have more guys contributing out of necessity than in years past. It is more of what we have to have in order to survive and to win.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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