Chase Austin wouldn’t go as far to call it a “fresh start.”
But when you have had as many injuries as the Victory Christian Academy football team, getting everyone back except two players is a reason to be excited. The timing couldn’t be better, either, after Victory Christian used the past two off weeks to get healthy in time for its annual regular-season rivalry game against Tuscaloosa Christian.
The teams will have a little more on the line at 7 tonight when they meet in Columbus. Victory Christian (1-4, 1-3 Christian Football Association) needs a win to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Eagles also will need to win next week at Gunn Christian Academy in Birmingham, Alabama, and then get some help from other conference teams to slip into the playoffs.
While Victory Christian is playing to extend its season, Tuscaloosa Christian (5-2, 4-1) comes to town looking for revenge. Last season, Tuscaloosa Christian rallied to beat Victory Christian 70-67 in the regular season. Victory Christian avenged that loss with a 44-8 victory in the CFA title game in Cottondale, Alabama.
Austin and classmate Reed Fulgham, the team’s senior quarterback, don’t want Tuscaloosa Christian to get that satisfaction in what could be their last meeting against their archrivals.
“I think we will be more pumped up, per se,” Austin said. “It won’t be just like a regular old game. If nothing else, I want to beat Tuscaloosa. If I don’t win another game, I want to beat Tuscaloosa.”
Austin hopes the return of senior lineman Chandler Honnoll from a separated shoulder will improve the Eagles’ chances. Honnoll suffered the injury in the team’s only win — a 30-26 victory against Cahawba Christian Academy (Ala.) on Sept. 12. The Eagles have had to weather several key injuries that have been magnified due to the loss of five seniors from last season’s team and the overall youth and inexperience on the 2015 squad.
Austin feels the team has improved and come together since the beginning of the season, but Fulgham said it has been a challenge to shuffle players into new spots and find continuity. He said everyone typically is more “locked in” to face a rival like Tuscaloosa Christian in a game most players involved consider the game of the year.
“As the year has progressed, we have grown,” Fulgham said. “Even though it is a rebuilding year, I think we have gotten a whole lot better than we are when we started.
“It will be a dogfight. It is all or nothing. It will determine our season, so we will have to leave everything on the field.”
Victory Christian coach Chris Hamm said his team didn’t intend to have a two-week layoff. He said the team attempted to schedule a game against a team from Georgia, but it opted not to play that game so it could get healthier for its conference games. He said the Eagles are as good as they can be given the number of injuries they have suffered. Victory lost Garrett Anthony (collarbone) and Cole Bond (wrist) due to season-ending injuries.
“We knew we were going to be young, inexperienced, rebuilding — whatever you want to say — and if we could stay healthy maybe have a decent year,” Hamm said. “Compounded by all of the injuries and the inexperience, we find ourselves having the season we are having. But I told them the other day they are going to remember the Tuscaloosa game. It is not going to erase everything else that has happened this year, but it would be something down the road they could think back to and think we were able to handle Tuscaloosa. It is going to be a tall order. They are a really good team and have a lot of explosiveness on offense and, from the film I have seen, a stout defense.”
Hamm said the Eagles have responded to the adversity and injuries well. He said the players haven’t quit and have continued to work hard. He said the lack of big plays and the inability to finish games has prevented them from being in a better situation with two regular-season games remaining. He hopes the plays to be made that have been there all season will click tonight to give his team a chance.
“The consistency all the way across has been our Achilles’ Heel,” Hamm said. “If we have an issue with blocking the rush, we get that shored up and then we drop a pass or don’t hit the right receiver. If we get the hole opened up, the back doesn’t run the right way. That is largely due to inexperience. We haven’t really had a cohesive line.”
Hamm said freshman Ethan Howell, who played Monday in the junior varsity game, will start at center tonight. He hopes Honnoll’s return at guard will enhance the Eagles’ chances of beating their biggest rival.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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