If there is one thing that Columbus Christian Academy’s head football coach Marcus Davidson knows about football, it’s that speed kills – especially in 8-man football.

Davidson, who is also the athletic director, basketball and track coach at CCA, saw flashes of it from the sidelines last season as the team’s defensive coordinator. But the Rams were limited in bodies on their roster. Only nine students signed up to play ball, and as the season went on fatigue set in and CCA finished the year 4-5 and missed the playoffs.

When track season rolled around, the majority of the Rams’ football team signed up to compete and went on to capture the MAIS 2A track and field state championship under Davidson’s leadership.Those same athletes are now back on the gridiron with even more speed and a deeper hunger to make a playoff berth for the first time since 2022. CCA gets the season going Aug. 22 when it hosts North Sunflower Academy.

“Speed. Really, that’s kind of our M-O,” said Davidson, who is entering his first year as head coach of the Rams. “We have a lot of team speed across the board, lineman and skill guys. We have a lot of speed and a lot of experience. Every one of them guys never came off the field last year.”

Without any depth, the Rams produced a scoring average of 32.9 points a game and even tacked on 74 points in a win over Porters Chapel Academy last season. But most of its losses came against teams with many more players who were able to take out starters who were winded. Despite this, CCA was only defeated by an average of 12 points in its five losses.

Now, the Rams have a few more weapons in the arsenal. Its roster grew to 18 players this season and offers a little bit more depth than they’ve had in previous years. CCA is bringing back seven starting seniors, one senior transfer, six sophomores – and no juniors. It’s a unique roster construction unlike Davidson has ever had.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever had that in my 27 years of coaching,” he said of having no juniors.

But it’s a team that Davidson said could make some noise this year.

On offense, Matthew Benge is back at quarterback (and will also be a defensive back).

“(Benge) is very well experienced, a good runner with good speed and can spin the ball pretty good when he throws,” Davidson said.

Benge will be taking snaps from center Logan Watkins and handing the ball off to shifty running back running back Imonn Hill on some plays or may throw it to him in the team’s new offense – the triple option. Davidson said that brand of football isn’t new to 8-man football but is foreign to his players. That’s why they’ve been working all preseason on mastering the many attacks the offense can provide, because it’s a style that could prove deadly to opposing teams.

“It fits our personnel very well,” Davidson said. “And the fact that our quarterback is very mobile, makes good decisions, and he also does a good job with his footwork and can spin the ball too.” 

J.T Dvorak, CCA’s new senior transfer from Caledonia, is a plug-and-play guy that can fit in any position, Davidson said. He’ll be the first man off the bench to come into the game for depth. Davidson believes his team will be much improved this year.

“It’s a good group of seniors, and I’m excited about the potential of what they can do,” he said. “Schematically, I like our scheme of how it does fit them and the potential I think they have for the upcoming season.”

On the move

While lots of things are new for the Rams this season, no change was bigger than its recent MAIS reclassification, which dropped the school from 2A to District 6-1A. The Rams will play nine games this year with tuneups against North Sunflower, Benton Academy, Tuscaloosa Christian, Russell Christian and Delta Streets Academy before battling district foes Kemper Academy, Calhoun Academy and Hebron Christian. Calhoun, which beat CCA 46-40 last season, is now a district opponent that Davidson said will likely be the team standing in the way of a Rams district championship.

“That’s going to be an interesting game,” he said.

Another tough team is Benton Academy, which dropped down from 11-man football to 8-man this year.

“My best friend coaches them, and he always does a good job,” he said. “They’ll be very well coached with still some 11-man players and experience, it will be very tough to beat them I feel like.”

But there are many goals on the minds of the Rams, and they are going to try their best to end the season with a state title.

“We want to be conference champions,” Davidson told The Dispatch. “We want to be district champions. Ideally, everybody’s goal and dream is to win the state championship, and I don’t think that’s out of reach. I’m not going to say that we are, but if we don’t we’ll have a chance to scare it to death if we stay healthy.”

That’s what Davison told his troops at the start of track season before his team went and captured the crown. The same message, he hopes bodes well in football. It’s the last hurrah for a group of seniors with whom he’s grown close, and he hopes they’ll leave behind a legacy of grit – and winning.

“Next year, we won’t even have a senior, unless somebody transfers in here so there will be no seniors on the team,” he said. “This year’s sophomores will be juniors next year, so (the seniors) will need to leave behind some leadership and some mental toughness to the guys behind them. That’s what we’ve been working on this summer.”