Ben’s Ford Christian School is at home tonight, playing against Centreville Academy in the Eagles’ District 5AAA opener.
Last week, the Eagles, who are 1-2, got in the win column for the first time this season with a 40-36 victory over Wilkinson County Christian Academy.
Last week’s game featured a 20-0 run by both teams. Ben’s Ford trailed 8-0 before going up 20-8 and then trailing 28-20.
Eagles second-year coach Cole Holden said his players fought hard and that he’s proud of them.
“They overcame every obstacle that was thrown at them,” he said. “They left it all out on the field Friday night.”
In this match up last season, Centreville defeated Ben’s Ford 42-14.
Holden said the team has had a good week of practice.
“We’ve had some young guys step up last week and hopefully that continues into this week,” Holden said.
The young players Holden said stepped up last week were freshman safety Tyler Winstead and defensive end Preston Lee, along with defensive tackle Cameron Bullen, who is an eighth grader. Holden said Lee made a big play last week when he sacked WCCA’s quarterback toward the end of the game.
He also said defensively that end Robert Gaitan and safety Daniel Pittman have been playing well.
Pittman, who also plays quarterback for the Eagles, threw for five touchdowns and ran for one last week. He had two interceptions, defensively.
Corey Caldwell was on the receiving end of three of the touchdown passes and Dionte Fernandez caught the other two.
C.J. McClelland and Cole Williams will return this week from injuries. Ashton Hines, Carter Stewart, Gunter Miller, Garrett Pounds and Peyton Robbins are sidelined tonight with various injuries.
Centreville, which is coached by Bill Hurst, begins the week with a 2-1 record after a 48-7 victory over Brookhaven Academy.
Centreville assistant coach Robbie Isonhood gave his thoughts on Ben’s Ford.
“No. 11 (Fernandez) and No. 3 (Caldwell), if they get to the ball to them, we could be in trouble,” Isonhood said. “We’ve got to be able to contain those two. The quarterback seems to be good. Defensively, they all go to the ball. We’ve got to come with our ‘A’ game.”
Like Ben’s Ford, Centreville is dealing with injuries. Isonhood said Wednesday that running back/linebacker Jayce Delee and offensive and defensive tackle Grant Spencer are both questionable. Running back/cornerback Nate Hoyt is questionable, but will probably play.
Defensive end/tight end/fullback Dustin Roberts is more than likely out and offensive tackle/defensive tackle John Paul Hodges, who is a backup, is probably out. The roster features 25 players between 10th and 12th grade. Centreville has just four seniors and two of them start. The quarterback is Britt Netterville. The team has five running backs. The main backs are Tyler Caston and Austin Addington.
Addington is also a receiver along with Stone Reynolds, Matthew Parnell and Michael Spangler.
Isonhood said Centreville plays a lot of young players on defense. The top players are outside linebacker Netterville, who Isonhood said is everywhere, free safety Addington and cornerback Reynolds. Reynolds is the team’s leading tackler.