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.

ACA Drops Both Games of Tri-match

ACA hosted Carver and Pike Road Thursday night and were defeated by both teams. The Lady Eagles were beaten by Carver in the first match, 21-25, 24-26. The night was finished with a tough three set loss to Pike Road, 23-25, 25-19, 13-15. Carver was able to defeat Pike Road in the other match to finish undefeated on the night.

Emily Thornton led the Eagles on the night with eight kills and 23 assists. Monica Willingham, seeing her first action of the year, added seven kills. Bailey DiNunzio had four aces and Savannah Fonville finished with a team high 18 digs.

The Lady Eagles (1-3) will continue play this weekend as they compete in the Mayor’s Cup.

ACA Earns First Victory of the Year Over Elmore County

The Lady Eagles evened their record to 1-1 on the season with a 25-17, 19-25, 26-24, 25-18 defeat of Elmore County. ACA showed improvement in their second game of the year. Coach Manuel Guice liked the progress he saw and knows that time on the court is what this team needs with all of the new players this year.

With the score tied 3-3 in game one, the Lady Eagles took charge and took a 19-11 lead and went on to win by eight. After falling behind early in game two, ACA could get no closer than four points. It looked as if Elmore County was going to take game three leading 21-24 late, but in the pivotal moment of the match the Eagles ran off five straight points and took the game, 26-24. The Eagles closed out the match in the fourth game for the hard earned victory.

Alyson Thornton led the offense with 12 kills and had three aces in her serve game. Emily Thornton had 20 assists while Savannah Fonville added 18 digs. Aniya Jackson and Alyson Thornton led the team at the net with three blocks each.

Judd Hardin Named ACA Athlete of the Week

Judd Hardin began his senior season in style with a top place finish in the Trinity Trailblazer Saturday morning. Hardin topped a field of over 100 runners and won the event for the second time. The leader of the cross country team is looking forward to a strong senior campaign.

Alabama Christian Defeats Saks in Season Opener

ACA traveled to Anniston to open the 2019 football season to play Saks High School. The Eagles left with their first victory of the year, beating the Wildcats, 20-12. Despite the slow start, ACA improved throughout the game and was able to hold the lead late in the game. Coach Nate Sanford commented, “It was a really good first game for us in the sense that it was a quality opponent, we had to come from behind, and then we had to seal it at the end”.

Saks struck first on their opening possession, scoring on a Quan Garrett 40 yard run to take the lead, 6-0. After both teams traded punts, the Eagle offense found its rhythm. ACA marched 69 yards in 11 plays, capped off by a two yard Jalen Clark touchdown run, to tie the game, 6-6. After a Saks turnover, the Eagles struck quickly as Clark hit Thomas Stovall on a 74 yard bomb on the third play of the drive to take the lead, 12-6. It only took Saks one play to tie the score as Tae Jones took a screen pass 58 yards to tie the game, 12-12. Both offenses had the ball one more time in the first half, but left the field tied at halftime.

The second half was dominated by the Eagles as they scored the only points of the half and won the time of possession and turnover battles. ACA scored on the first drive of the second half covering 46 yards in seven plays that took 4:31 off the clock. The scoring play was a screen pass that Corey Landers took 19 yards to the house. After the two point conversion on a K J Kendrick reception the Eagles led 20-12. The Eagles defense shutout Saks for the rest of the half and ended any hope of a last minute comeback when Kory Nixon intercepted a pass with 1:42 remaining in the game. Coach Sanford complimented the defense saying “I thought we tackled pretty well for a first game and our D-line did a solid job of controlling the line of scrimmage”.

Jalen Clark passed for 118 yards on 7 of 12 passing and added 90 yards on 16 attempts to lead the offense. Sanford assessed Clark’s performance and said “Jalen made some really good decisions and throws and our receivers made four or five tough catches that changed the game”. On defense, Jackson Thomas led the team with nine total tackles while Bryan Farrington added eight tackles. The defense also forced two turnovers.

Next week, the Eagles will host Pike County for its first home game of the year.

Judd Hardin Wins Trinity Trailblazer at AUM

Judd Hardin began Alabama Christian’s 2019 cross country campaign with a top finish in the Trinity Trailblazer at AUM Saturday morning. Hardin, a senior, reclaimed the title he won two years ago with a time of 17:10 in the 5K race. Hardin is one of the top runners in 4A and is looking forward to a great season. In the girl’s race, Kyndall Foley had the Eagles best finish, placing fifth.

Coach Michael Britton was very pleased with the teams first outing. He stated the team was right where it needs to be and feels it will get stronger as the season progresses. Coach Britton was also very proud of Hardin and appreciates his leadership on the team.

ACA’s next meet will be September 7th in Oakville for the Chickasaw Trails Invitational.

ACA Loses Season Opener at PCA

The Lady Eagles traveled to Prattville and lost the season opener in four games to Prattville Christian. ACA’s starting rotation looked drastically different as seven seniors were lost to graduation from last year’s squad. Emily Thornton was the lone starter left from a team that advanced to the Final Four last year.

The match was tight through the first half of game one, but with the score tied 13-13, PCA pulled away and took the first game, 25-22. In game two, the Lady Lions jumped out to a 9-3 advantage and never trailed in route to a 25-17 win.

The Lady Eagles fought back in game three as Emily Thornton helped to build an early 7-0 lead. Thornton served on ten of the team’s 25 points as ACA won its only game, 25-21. Alabama Christian again jumped out to an early lead in game four, but were unable to hold it and fell 25-22.

Emily Thornton led the team with seven aces and 16 assists. Alyson Thornton added a team high ten kills while Savannah Fonville contributed 16 digs.

ACA will host Elmore County next Tuesday in their home opener.