Alabama Christian's Emily Thornton Surpasses 3,000 Career Assist Milestone

Emily Thornton’s 17 assists against Catholic Tuesday night pushed her past the 3,000 assist mark for her career. The senior captain currently has 3,016 assists for her career. Thornton joins Blair Brendle as the only Alabama Christian players to accomplish this feat.

The Eagles were unable to defeat the Knights on the night, losing in three games, 9-25, 20-25, 18-25. ACA started slowly in the first two games and never recovered and despite the better start in game three could not put together a consistent effort and lost the final game.

Jordan Smithee led the team with eight kills while Mary Hall, Alyson Thornton and Monica Willingham each had five kills.

ACA Swept by St. James in Capital City Conference Tilt

Two old rivals clashed Monday night as St. James visited Alabama Christian and the Lady Trojans came away victorious winning, 28-26, 25-22, 25-20. Both teams were inconsistent all night and allowed long runs to their opponent in all three games.

The Lady Eagles came out flat and allowed St. James to jump out to an 11-0 lead to start the match. ACA had trouble adjusting to the very soft, short serves of the Lady Trojans. The Eagles erased the deficit and took a 25-24 lead late in the game, thanks to Jordan Smithee’s service game which accounted for six straight points. In the end, ACA ran out of gas and lost 26-28.

In game two with the game tied 5-5, the Lady Eagles allowed six straight points to St. James, committing errors on five of the six points. Once again, the Eagles fought their way back and pulled to within one point at 22-23, but gave up the final two points of the game and lost 22-25. Game three played out like the previous game as ACA allowed nine straight points to the Lady Trojans to trail 10-17. After pulling to within one point, 20-21, St. James scored the last four points to win the game and the match.

Jordan Smithee led the team with 10 kills, two blocks and two aces. Alyson Thornton had seven kills while Mary Hall and Monica Willingham both contributed six kills. Emily Thornton had 28 assists and two aces.

ACA (14-17) will play at home again tomorrow against Catholic in an importanrt area contest.

Kyndall Foley Named ACA Athlete of the Week

Several Eagle athletes had strong performances this week, but cross country runner Kyndall Foley receives the Athlete of the Week honor. Jalen Clark and Corey Landers led the football team in a road win and the volleyball team won an area match Thursday against LAMP and finished second in the Elmore County tournament.

Foley has led the girls cross country team all season, racing in every meet this year and turning in the best time for the team in each race. This week, Foley finished eighth in the Jesse Owens Classic out of 312 runners with her season best time of 20:37.25.

Alabama Christian Competes in Jesse Owens Classic

Kyndall Foley once again ran a strong race on the course in Oakville as she finished eighth out of 312 runners in the bronze division in the 21st Annual Jesse Owens XC Classic. The Jesse Owens Classic is one of the largest races of the year with five divisions for boys and girls on the varsity level and a boys and girls division for junior varsity. Foley turned in a season best time of 20:37.25. Three boys runners, Lane Kilpatrick, James Davis and Bryan Burleson, each posted season best times on the day. in the JV division, Ken Martin placed third among 447 runners and Kate Finch finished twelfth out of 287 runners in their respective races.

ACA Beats Headland in Important Area Game

Alabama Christian traveled to Headland Friday night, where both teams were looking for their second area win of the year. The Eagles were able to avenge last year’s loss, when they gave up a program worst 74 points, by defeating the Rams 28-22. The win evened ACA’s record to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the area. Coach Nate Sanford was pleased with the good start of his team and the way they overcame falling behind twice in the second half. Sanford stated, “I’m super proud of our young team for not hanging their heads when it got tough tonight”.

The Eagles opened the game with a 12 play, 92 yard march that took more than half of the first quarter. ACA converted three third downs on the drive and scored when Corey Landers took an option pitch 11 yards to the end zone. Landers ended the night with 67 yards on 15 carries. After the defense forced a three and out from Headland, the offense needed just one play to score again. Jalen Clark ran through the Ram defense, breaking tackles and spinning away from defenders, for a 64 yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 13-0 lead. Clark would finish the night with 198 yards rushing on 25 carries and two touchdowns. Both teams possessed the ball three times in the second quarter with no results. Headland’s fourth drive of the quarter produced their only points of the first half. On fourth and goal from the 21 yard line, with just 35 seconds left in the half, the Rams sent one man out and the defense allowed him to get behind them for the scoring reception. Despite controlling the first half, the Eagles held a slim 13-8 lead going into the locker room.

Headland opened the second half with a touchdown on their second play to take their first lead of the game, 13-16. The Eagles responded immediately with another long drive to retake the lead. ACA kept the ball for over four minutes and covered 75 yards in 10 plays. The offense confused the Rams with an unusual formation on the touchdown play. Lineman, Tyler Hale, lined up wide on the right side and Bryan Farrington lined up tight on the left end.  Farrington ran straight up the seam where Jalen Clark hit him for a 17 yard touchdown. The Ram’s head coach argued on the field for several minutes after the play that the alignment was illegal, but in the end the score counted and the Eagles led 20-16.

The fourth quarter opened with another Headland score and the Eagles once again lost the lead. Just like the previous time ACA fell behind, the offense responded on the very next series with a score. The drive was set up with a 51 yard kick return by Demari Moore which allowed the offense to start at Headland’s 41 yard line. Jalen Clark scored on a 10 yard run with 4:26 left in the game and after the 2 point conversion pass to Preston Hicks, the Eagles led 28-22. As Headland tried to drive and tie the game, Demari Moore contributed another big play with an interception that ended the hopes of the Rams on their Homecoming night.

After last year’s performance, this year’s defense held Headland in check all night. Miller McCarthy led the defense with 12 total tackles and Preston Perry added another 11 tackles. Chase Whitfield, who had the hit of the night on a fourth down stop, had eight tackles.

Alabama Christian will host Lafayette for Senior night next week.

Emily Thornton Named ACA Athlete of the Week

Emily Thornton led the Lady Eagles to a 2-1 record last week and was named the ACA Athlete of the Week. The senior captain had 18 kills with 33 assists and two aces in the three contests. Thornton leads the Eagles in kills and assists on the season, which has only been done one other time in program history. Thornton ranks second all time in assists and eighth in aces in school history.

ACA Swept by Trinity in Three Straight

The Lady Eagles lost an area contest to Trinity Thursday night in three straight games. The first game was very close, but ACA was unable to take the lead late and lost 22-25. Mary Hall was injured in game two with the score tied 17-17 and the Eagles struggled down the stretch and fell 21-25. In game three, the score was tied 10-10 early, but Trinity gained the momentum and won the game, 13-25.

Emily Thornton led the team with nine kills and added 10 assists. Jordan Smithee had seven kills and Mary Hall added five kills and two blocks. Alyson Thornton led the team with 18 assists and Savannah Fonville had six digs.

ACA (8-13) have the weekend off and will resume play Monday as they visit Catholic.

Lady Eagles Sweep Tri-Match at Wetumpka

Alabama Christian beat Park Crossing (25-16, 25-21) and Wetumpka (25-13, 25-14) in a tri-match at Wetumpka Monday night. The Eagles improved to 8-12 on the season with the sweep and hope to use the wins to help get ready for an area contest against Trinity, Thursday.

Against Park Crossing, ACA came out strong and won game one easily. The Eagles came out flat for game two and fell behind 5-13 early in the game. Alyson Thornton ran off seven straight points to even the score 13-13. Park Crossing responded with five straight points to take a 13-18 lead. After cutting the lead to 17-19, Hayley Cassidy served a run of five points to take the lead. The Eagles held on for a 25-21 win to take the match. Emily Thornton led the offense with six kills and nine assists. Jordan Smithee and Monica Willingham each added five kills. Alyson Thornton contributed nine assists and, along with Smithee, had three aces.

ACA faced Wetumpka in the second match and dominated from the beginning of game one. The Eagles jumped out to a 5-1 lead and cruised to 25-13 win. Bailey DiNunzio, Jordan Smithee, Hayley Cassidy, and Alyson Thornton all ran off at least three points in a row with their serve in the game. In game two, Emily Thornton’s serve accounted for 11 of the team’s 25 points. Savannah Fonville served the last two points to close out the match. Alyson Thornton’s seven kills led the team while Bailey DiNunzio had five kills and two aces with Monica Willingham adding four kills. Emily Thornton had 14 assists and two aces. Savannah Fonville led the team with 17 digs.

'

Jalen Clark Named ACA Athlete of the Week

Jalen Clark had a career night against Dale County Friday night and earned this week’s Athlete of the Week award. Clark set career highs in passing (169 yards) and rushing (204 yards) and accounted for five touchdowns (two passing and three rushing) in the area contest. Clark was the leader of the offense that scored on all seven possessions and amassed 503 yards of total offense and helped on defense with two tackles.

The junior quarterback’s 14.6 yard average per carry was the fourth best in school history and his 373 yards of total offense ranks the eighth best all time. Although this is Clark’s first year as the starting quarterback, he already ranks in many career offensive categories.

Eagles Run in Central Alabama Championships

Kyndall Foley was the top finisher for all varsity runners with a fourth place showing out of 70 competitors in the girls division with a season best time of 20:52.33. Marlo Duggan, Payton DeCapite, and Timia Nelson all recorded their season best time finishing 28th, 54th and 70th respectively. in the boys division, Connor Strowbridge finished 35th out of 116 runners with a time of 19:41.19. Lane Kilpatrick finished 45th and Bryan Burelson finished 93rd.

Both JV squads had strong performances on the day. In the boys division, Ken Martin and Alexander Costanza finished in the top two spots and Kate Finch finished first in the girls division. Emma Russell, Madi Armstrong and Annabelle Owens all finished in the top ten in the girls race.

The Eagles next race on October 5 in the Jesse Owens Classic.

Alabama Christian Dominates in Area Win Over Dale County

The home team had won the three previous meetings of this series and the Eagles continued that trend with a convincing 49-20 defeat of Dale County Friday night. The offense scored touchdowns on all seven possessions racking up 470 yards of total offense. Coach Nate Sanford commented that not having to punt all night was a great confidence builder for his young team and although the defense had trouble getting off the field at times he was encouraged that no cheap plays were given up by the Eagles.

ACA received the opening kick and proceeded to march 80 yards in eight plays while eating up 4:27 of the first quarter clock. The drive was capped off with the first of three Jalen Clark touchdown runs and Cobi Keel added the first of his seven extra points on the night, which ties for the second most in one game in school history. After a K J Kendrick interception killed Dale County’s first drive, the Eagles scored again driving the ball 73 yards in 12 plays covering 5:57. A key fourth down conversion as time expired in the first quarter kept the momentum with the Eagles. Demari Moore finished the drive with a nine yard touchdown run and the lead extended to 14-0.

Dale County scored on their second possession of the night and cut the Eagle lead in half. A bobbled attempt on the kick return had ACA backed up on its own three yard line and it looked as if Dale County had caught a break. The offense responded and covered 97 yards in only six plays with the score coming on a 59 yard pass from Jalen Clark to Demari Moore with just 1:54 left in the first half. Moore would finish the night with 72 yards receiving and 16 yards rushing with two touchdowns. Dale County responded in a big way as they returned the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14. The Eagles regular kick cover team was not on the field and the Warriors took advantage. Luckily, the offense bailed them out scoring in just 1:23 to close out the first half. Jalen Clark’s eight yard scoring run came with just 7.9 seconds left in the half. Alabama Christian would leave the field up 28-14 at the intermission.

Dale County started the second half with a three and out and punted the ball back to ACA. It only took the Eagles one play to score as Jalen Clark raced 53 yards down the sideline for the score. Clark would finish the night with 201 yards rushing on 13 carries and three touchdowns. Dale County held the ball for 16 plays and used 7:38 of the clock, but only drove 48 yards in that time and eventually gave up the ball on downs. The Eagles again scored quickly and took a commanding 42-14 lead late in the third quarter as Jalen Clark hit Preston Hicks for a 27 yard touchdown. Clark passed for 169 yards on the night on nine of twelve passing and Hicks was the team’s leading receiver with four receptions for 54 yards and a score. Dale County again held the ball for a long period of time, as they ran 14 plays and were able to finish this drive with a score. ACA’s last score of the night came on a 30 yard Corey Landers run and stretched the lead to 49-20. Landers tallied 84 yards on 10 rushes for the game. The Warriors failed to score on their last drive and the victory belonged to the Eagles.

The defense was on the field for many plays and a few players had big nights. Jackson Thomas led the defense with 15 total tackles. Miller McCarthy added 11 tackles while playing through injury and Bryan Farrington had 10 tackles and a sack.

The Eagles (2-3, 1-2 in the area) are idle next week and will travel to Headland in two weeks for an important area contest.

Lady Eagles Lose Tough Match in Five Sets to Prattville

ACA started strong as they built a 2-0 lead, but could not finish off the Lady Lions as Prattville stormed back to win the last three games and win the match, 26-24, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 10-15. This was the third time the Eagles lost to Prattville this year, but have improved with every contest.

Alabama Christian out hustled and outplayed Prattville in the first two games. In game one, the Eagles trailed 8-13, but steadily closed the gap and won the game, 26-24. Bailey DiNunzio ran off four straight points serving in the comeback and Emily Thornton served the last three points for the win. Game two was even until Savannah Fonville scored four straight points to break a 5-5 tie and the Eagles never trailed again in the game.

ACA came out flat in game three and the Lions built an early 10-1 lead and the Eagles never recovered. The Lady Eagles had their best chance to finish off the Lions in game four. After trailing 5-11 early in the game, the Eagles rallied and led 23-21 late in the game, but couldn’t finish and Prattville scored the last four points of the game to even the match 2-2. The Eagles fell behind early in the deciding game five and were never able to break through with the lead.

Emily Thornton produced a solid performance with a team leading 15 kills and 20 assists. Alyson Thornton added 11 kills and 18 assists and led the team with two aces. Jordan Smithee had nine kills and an ace while Savannah Fonville led the team with 12 digs.

ACA (6-11) will host LAMP on Thursday in an important area contest.

Volleyball's Alyson Thornton Named Athlete of the Week

Freshman Alyson Thornton is the ACA Athlete of the Week . Thornton was nominated as the Player of the Week from the Montgomery Advertiser last week and continued her steady play this week for the volleyball team. in an area contest against Trinity, Thornton had five kills with 12 assists in a losing effort. For the season, Thornton leads the team in kills and aces and ranks second in assists.

The Lady Eagles (6-10) will play against Prattville on Tuesday of this week and host LAMP on Thursday in a key area match.

Eagles Overpowered by Catholic in Loss

Alabama Christian met its oldest rival Friday night in a key area match up with Catholic. Although the Eagles hold an overall advantage in the series, 23 wins to 18 losses, the Knights won for the fourth consecutive year by a score of 52-13. Catholic dominated from the beginning outgaining ACA 318 to 36 in the first half.

The Knights offense scored touchdowns on four of six drives in the first half on runs of 67, 10, 35 and 16 yards to build a commanding 28-0 halftime lead. The bright spot for ACA in the first half was a Demari Moore interception early in the second quarter.

The second half started just like the first half with the Knights scoring on their first two possessions building a 38-0 lead. The Eagles showed some life after a personal foul late hit on the kickoff return against Catholic that put the ball on the 43 yard line for the offense. ACA drove the ball 57 yards in six plays to score its first touchdown of the game. The key plays on the drive were a third down conversion pass to Preston Hicks that covered 14 yards and a 30 yard touchdown run by Corey Landers. After a fumble recovery by Preston Perry on the next drive, the Eagles marched 25 yards to cut the lead to 38-13. The drive was capped off with a seven yard pass to Bryan Farrington from Jalen Clark. With only 8:26 remaining in the game and still owning a four score lead, the Catholic coaching staff seemed uncomfortable with the Eagle’s two scores as the starters returned to the field. The Knights added two late touchdowns to finish the scoring and complete a 52-13 victory over the Eagles.

The Eagles were led by Corey Landers on offense who rushed for 62 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown and caught two passes for 14 yards. Preston Hicks had three catches which led the receiving corp. Jalen Clark passed for 64 and ran for 39 yards on the night. Miller McCarthy led the defense for the third consecutive week with 11 total tackles and Bryan Farrington added five tackles for the defense.

Next week, ACA (1-3) will host Dale County in another area contest.

Miller McCarthy Named ACA Athlete of the Week

Miller McCarthy led a strong defensive effort Friday night in a loss to Trinity. The Eagle defense gave up only 134 yards to the Wildcat offense. The junior linebacker led the stingy defense and filled up the stat sheet with 15 total tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery. McCarthy ranks second on the team in tackles on the season and first in sacks.

Kyndall Foley Leads Cross Country Team in Oakville

The ACA cross country team participated in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational Saturday in one of the largest races of the season. Kyndall Foley finished 12th out of 243 runners in the small school division with a time of 21:43.93, which beat her time by more than a minute from the first race of the season. Marlo Duggan finished 91st with a time of 25:29.67 while Payton DeCapite finished 168th with a time of 28:08.31. Both runners improved their time from the first race. In the boys division, Lane Kilpatrick finished 92nd out of 322 runners with a time of 20:31.00 and Bryan Burelson finished 259th with a time of 26:00.69.

In the junior high division, Ken Martin finished second and Alexander Costanza finished 14th out of 479 runners. Kate Finch produced the top girls finish by placing 16th out of 324 runners.

Lady Eagles Split Four Matches in Party on the Plains Tournament

The ACA volleyball team continued to improve as they finished 2-2 in the Party on the Plains Tournament in Auburn this weekend. The Eagles opened play against the host school, Auburn, and were beaten in two sets, 17-25, 18-25. ACA bounced back in the next two pool games, winning in three sets both times. ACA defeated Pike Road 25-15, 19-25, 15-7 and Tuscaloosa County 25-14, 14-25, 15-7. The Lady Eagles closed the day with a three set loss to Prattville, 25-23, 21-25, 11-15.

For the tournament, Alyson Thornton led the team with 18 kills and Mary Hall, Jordan Smithee, and Monica Willingham each had 16 kills. Hall had a team high four blocks while Savannah Fonville led the squad with 40 digs and eight aces. Emily Thornton had 41 assists and sister Alyson Thornton added 38 assists. Emily Thornton’s six aces on the weekend moved her into 10th place all time in school history with 133 career aces.

Early Mistakes Cost ACA in Loss to Trinity

The Eagles opened area play against Trinity again this year and, like last year, were defeated by the Wildcats, 24-12. The defense played a strong game, but the Eagles dug too big of a hole to climb out of with early mistakes and turnovers, resulting in 17 Wildcat points.

The Eagles fumbled on the first play from scrimmage setting up a touchdown on the next play for Trinity and an early 7-0 lead. On the next possession, after gaining only two yards on three running plays, the Eagles lined up to punt and snapped the ball over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a safety. On the first play of ACA’s fourth possession, Jalen Clark threw an interception returned for a touchdown. With 3:40 remaining in the first quarter the Eagles trailed 17-0. ACA outplayed Trinity for the remainder of the game, but could not overcome the mistake filled first quarter.

In the second quarter, Miller McCarthy recovered a Wildcat fumble which set up the first points of the game for ACA. Cobi Keel booted a 31 yard field goal to cut the lead to 17-3. With less than a minute left in the first half, Trinity returned an earlier favor by hiking the ball over the punter’s head for a safety. The Eagles trailed 17-5 at the intermission.

Alabama Christian opened the second half with a five play 42 yard drive, culminated on a two yard touchdown run by Jalen Clark to make the score 17-12. With the exception of an early fourth quarter touchdown drive by Trinity, both defenses dominated the second half. Neither offense was able to gain more than 150 yards of offense on the night. In the end, Trinity did enough to gain the road victory.

Miller McCarthy had an outstanding defensive performance with 15 total tackles with two sacks and a fumble recovery. Khalil Jackson and Jackson Thomas both added six tackles. Jalen Clark completed 12 of 24 passes for only 67 yards, but was under constant pressure being sacked six times on the night. Clark also led the team with 45 rushing yards.

Next week, ACA (1-2) travels across town to take on an undefeated Catholic squad.

Alabama Christian Handles Pike Road in Four Games

After losing to Pike Road last week, the Lady Eagles bounced back with an impressive road win over the Patriots Thursday night. ACA played one of their best games of the year and Coach Manuel Guice was particularly pleased with his team’s play at the net as the Lady Eagles had several blocks and touches that Bothered the Pike Road hitters.

In game one, the contest was close and the Eagles held an early 9-7 lead. ACA outscored Pike Road 16-5 to finish with the help of Jordan Smithee and Emily Thornton serving well to help secure the win. In game two, the Eagles started slowly and trailed 11-15 midway through the game. From that point, Bailey DiNunzio ran off five straight points and Savannah Fonville followed with six in a row to win the game, 25-18.

Game three saw the Eagles start strong, but they could not hold the lead and Pike Road won their only game of the night, 18-25. ACA closed out the match by winning game four, 25-15. The Lady Eagles closed out the night on a 15-5 run and left the gym with a very important win.

The offensive output was evenly distributed with Mary Hall leading the team with nine kills and Alyson Thornton added eight kills. Jordan Smithee had three aces to pace the team and Mary Hall had three blocks. Emily Thornton’s 21 assists was season high for the Lady Eagles.

ACA (4-7) will travel to Auburn this weekend for the Party on the Plains Tournament.

ACA Drops Home Opener to Pike County

Alabama Christian trailed by only six points at the half, but Pike County pulled away in the second half for a 38-13 victory. Pike County returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown and never allowed the Eagles to get back in the game. The Bulldogs finished the game scoring touchdowns on their final three drives against a worn down ACA defense.

ACA allowed a touchdown on the opening drive for the second consecutive week as Rayshawn Reynolds ran 48 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles scored on the first play of the second quarter with a two yard Jalen Clark run to tie the game 6-6. ACA drove 45 yards in nine plays covering 3:14. The key play of the drive was a 25 yard completion to Kory Nixon that set the Eagles up at the two yard line. Pike County responded on the next drive and took the lead for good on a Darrick Myhand run with 9:18 left in the first half.

The second half started with a Pike County return touchdown and put the Eagles down 19-6. The next three drives produced no points in the game. At that point, Pike County scored on runs of 22, 3, and 8 yards to put the game away. ACA’s lone score of the second half came in the fourth quarter on a Jalen Clark throw to Garrett Weathers covering 12 yards. Weathers would finish the game with three receptions for 51 yards.

Jalen Clark finished the game completing 15 passes on 22 attempts for 165 yards and a touchdown and added 72 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. On defense, Miller McCarthy led the team with nine total tackles and Dylan Thomas added eight tackles. Bryan Farrington and Khalil Jackson both contributed six tackles and a half sack.

Alabama Christian (1-1) will host Trinity next week in a key area game against a long time CCC foe.