They will continue to work harder “day by day.” 

The football team keeps on using the phrase, “day by day,” to show that they will only get better, from each game. 

Sept. 11, Christian Academy beat Bullitt East with their score being seven times as much as Bullitt East. Head Football Coach Ethan Atchley wasn’t too happy with Friday night, but he knows what went wrong. For the players, they had higher hopes, but they know the only thing to do is to improve.

Christian Academy got six touchdowns, and six field goals, before Bullitt East was able to score their first, and only touchdown, and field goal. The outcome of the game was 49-7, Christian Academy. 

This game was also senior night, making it a game that the seniors, and the players, and the coaches, will remember. It wasn’t the best game for them, but they still are going to improve, and show the fans their true power, in the upcoming future.

Atchley believes that the game was going to go wrong, once they found out some big news. “I think the CAL game, and it’s no excuse, but it was kind of a perfect storm, in one sense, because we found out, Friday afternoon, Bryce Clements was not, in fact, going to be allowed to play, after being really happy that he was going to be allowed to play,” said Atchley.

Atchley believes that they need more practice, before they can really show their true strengths. “I mean, we had two two weeks before the CAL game, and we had three the week of the CAL game, and we try to keep them fresh. I felt like we were fresh going into the game; we just had an emotional roller coaster with the Bryce deal, senior night,” said Atchley.

Atchley expected more from the returners of the football team. “I was shocked that some of our older players that had experience, did not make some plays in a crucial third-down, that would have given us some life back, and some of them probably do a large part to everybody’s headspace, including mine, which was a little bit discombobulated from 3:30 on, because of the news, with Bryce. So, we’ll continue to work on things that we had to rush through more full-team, all group, type parts of practice, had to kind of get microwaved on how we can get back to some basics again this week, since we got a game under our belt, we can work on us,” said Atchley.

Senior Quarterback Aeron Adams believes that there is room for improvement, for himself, and his fellow teammates. “It didn’t go like we had hoped, at all, but we still have a lot to improve on, and I believe in this team,” said Adams, “We plan on, as a team, just working on the little things: like tackling, and running, to the ball, as a team.”

Adams believes that they didn’t play their best, and they have a lot more power than what they showed Sept. 11. “We didn’t play to our full ability. I know our team has more in the tank, and can play better,” said Adams, “I think, as a team, we will work even harder, and push even more in practice. This game was a wake up call to our team, and we are going to improve.”

Adams didn’t notice much of a difference between last year, and this year, when it comes to the coronavirus, and how it has affected football. “It wasn’t any different feel on the field, other than the sidelines really, with social distancing, and masks,” said Adams. The only difference Adams noticed was when they weren’t playing, and were just standing on the sidelines.

Adams did notice a couple of highlights, even from this loss. “I think the highlights for us, as a team, was the glimpses I saw. The team saw what we are capable of, and we have got to continue to push for that every rep,” said Adams. 

Senior Receiver Bryce Clements wasn’t able to play his senior night, because of an injury. “I was not able to play Friday night, because I had a knee injury particularly with my ACL. I was told a couple hours before the game that it was in my best interest form my parents, and coaches, that it would not be a good idea for my safety, and have my whole season blown away. So, we made the decision to sit out this game, and maybe next week to make sure I’m able to go full-go,” said Clements.

It did upset Clements that he wasn’t able to play, but he is kind of glad that he didn’t. “Yes, it sucked; especially figuring out so soon to game time. But if you think about it, it was the right decision, because there was more pros, than cons, on sitting out, including risking my whole senior season, instead of just missing two games. But overall, it sucked very badly, because you really don’t know when the season could end to COVID,” said Clements. 

The next game is Sept. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at Bullitt Central High School, against Bullitt Central.