Chris Hamm would have loved last week to have built some momentum.
Instead, the Victory Christian football team regrouped from a 42-6 victory against Clinton Christian with a week of practice. A scheduling switch late in the offseason left the Eagles with an open date in week two, but Hamm feels his team has made the most of the time to prepare for its game at 7 tonight against New Life Academy in Columbus.
“We added some stuff to our offense, and I think we used it as productively as possible,” Hamm said. “Our practice Monday was upbeat, and you could tell they had their legs up under them.”
Hamm said the open week wasn”t designed and came about after he moved a game against Flint Hill to Sept. 29 in Bessemer, Ala., in an attempt to add to his schedule. As it stands, Victory Christian will have three open dates this season. Next week, it will play host to Tabernacle before its second open date. It will play Heritage Christian on Sept. 23 and Flint Hill before its final open week.
From there, Hamm hopes his team will be busy. Victory Christian will play at North River on Oct. 14 and then will play host to Tuscaloosa Christian for its homecoming on Oct. 21. The Christian Football Association playoffs begin the following week.
Last year, Tuscaloosa Christian defeated Victory Christian in the CFA title game. The loss snapped the two-time defending CFA champion Eagles” 30-game winning streak.
Hamm hopes his team will come together to make another postseason run. The Eagles will try to do it with junior Bryer Bolton and senior running back Kaleb Holliness leading the way.
“I was really pleased with the offense (in the opener),” Hamm said. “Bryer played a good game at quarterback, and we were able to run the ball pretty effectively against a pretty good team with good size.”
Hamm felt his team”s conditioning was a difference against Clinton Christian. He hopes the Eagles added to that foundation in the last two weeks to prepare them for what will another season in which they are the hunted.
“Having some open weeks with an inexperienced team is going to serve us well,” Hamm said.
Marshall Academy at Immanuel Christian, 7 tonight
Immanuel Christian coach Greg Watkins hopes his Rams (0-2) find a way to start faster this week.
Last week, Watkins said his offense was nonexistent for a quarter and half and by the time his team “woke up” it trailed 21-0. Leake Academy went on to win 35-8.
“We really looked like two different teams,” Watkins said of what he saw from his team in the first and second halves. “I told them we can”t wait until the second half or we get down until we wake up.”
As disappointed he was in his team”s play in the first 24 minutes, Watkins said he was pleased with how the Rams responded in the second half. He said they were able to move the ball down the field thanks to running back Norris Harris, but he said turnovers and penalties continue to be a problem.
“We had the ball inside the 1-yard line and we had an illegal procedure penalty that gave us a fourth-and-goal from the 5 and we weren”t able to get it into the end zone,” Watkins said.
Despite the struggles with center-to-quarterback exchanges and turnovers, Watkins said Jason Davis continues to get better at quarterback. He said the junior has had a lot of new things thrown at him and has adjusted well.
“He really never has played any offense and we stuck him at quarterback to run some option, which is one of most difficult things to do as a quarterback,” Watkins said. “Every game he is going to get better and better at it.”
Watkins hopes his team won”t have similar problems with execution tonight because it could be at less that 100 percent. He said running back Michael Tate is coming off a bone bruise, while Harris will be a “game-time decision” after he suffered an ankle injury last week.
Shannon at West Lowndes, 7:30 tonight
First-year coach Anthony King and the Panthers will continue their step up in competition when they play host to Class 4A Shannon.
Last week, Caledonia, another Class 4A school, defeated West Lowndes 29-15. This week, King knows his team will face another difficult test against a tradition-rich program.
“We”re going to use them as a measuring stick,” King said. “After playing them we should be able to handle any team in Class 1A. We”re just trying to get out healthy.”
King said sophomore Justin Stephenson could get playing time this week as the Panthers try to find a way to keep defenses from keying on senior running back Antonio Wilson. A week ago, Wilson rushed for more than 100 yards and had an 80-yard touchdown run called back due to a penalty.
King said Stephenson is a good thrower who was with the varsity team last season and played quarterback in seventh and in eighth grade.
Aside from playing with good effort, King also wants his team to “clean up” its mistakes. He said his defense, which is learning a new system and is filled with inexperienced players, got caught out of position several times last week. He said that unit also wore down, which caused it to make more mistake once it tired.
“We”re trying to create a couple of positions where we don”t have to use guys both ways,” King said. “Even though the guys played bad defensively I think they played better than they did in the first game.”
King was especially pleased with the play of middle linebacker Trevor Stowers, who he said led the defense.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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