Alabama Christian's Season Ends with Loss to Catholic

The Lady Eagles season came to an end, Monday afternoon, with a loss to Catholic in the opening round of the 4A Area 4 tournament by a score of 14-25, 17-25, 16-25. In the final game of the year, Monica Willingham and Alyson Thornton led the offense with eight kills each and Thornton added 10 assists. Emily Thornton had six kills and a team high 17 assists. Savannah Fonville added 11 digs.

For the season, freshman Alyson Thornton led the team in kills (252) and aces (50). Senior co-captain Savannah Fonville was the team leader in digs (391) while senior Mary Hall had the most blocks (32). Emily Thornton, also a senior co-captain, led the team in assists (689).

Jalen Clark Named ACA Athlete of the Week

For the second week in a row a record setting performance earns a player Athlete of the Week honors. Quarterback Jalen Clark set a single game record when he rushed for 320 yards against BTW-Tuskegee Friday night. Clark broke Alden Stroud’s mark of 305 yards set in 2017. The junior also helped on defense to try and neutralize the athleticism of BTW and contributed four tackles. Clark’s effort against BTW moved him past 1,000 yards rushing for the season and he leads the Eagles with 11 rushing touchdowns.

ACA Wins Two of Four Matches in Prattville Tournament

Alabama Christian played in the final weekend tournament of the season in Prattville on Saturday and came away with two wins in four matches. The Lady Eagles won their first two games of the day by defeating PCA 26-24, 25-21 and St. James 25-12, 25-17. ACA lost the last two matches to Pelham 17-25, 11-25 and LAMP 25-21, 12-25, 10-15 to end the day.

For the tournament, Jordan Smithee led the offense with 23 kills with Alyson Thornton recording 22 kills, 30 assists and a team high six aces. Mary Hall and Monica Willingham each had 16 kills with Willingham tying Alyson Thornton with a team best six aces. Emily Thornton led the team with 47 assists on the day.

The Eagles compete in the Area Tournament at Catholic against the top seeded Knights on Monday with a spot in the super regional at stake.

ACA Loses Shootout on Homecoming

ACA let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers as BTW upset the Eagles 42-37 on Homecoming Friday night. The Golden Eagles faced a fourth and goal from the 21 yard line, but managed to complete a pass and score the game winner with 5.8 seconds remaining on the clock for their first win of the season. Alabama Christian could have clinched a playoff berth with a win, but now will have to beat Ashford on the road next week to qualify.

Even though ACA’s passing game struggled, the ground attack more than made up for it. The Eagles rushed for over 400 yards including Jalen Clark’s school record 320 yards on 23 attempts and two touchdowns. Corey Landers also scored twice and rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries. Noah Silmon, who filled in for injured Demari Moore, added 31 yards on four carries and a touchdown.

The defense had difficulty matching up with the skill players for the Golden Eagles. BTW racked up more than 400 yards of offense and kept the Eagles off balance all night. The defense was led by Khalil Jackson with eight tackles and a sack and Preston Perry who ended with seven tackles and a sack. Jack Thomas added six tackles while Kyle Jackson and Jae Nelson both had sacks.

After Alabama Christian turned the ball over to open the game, the contest saw six touchdowns scored on the next seven possessions, with each team scoring three times. BTW scored on drives of 82, 38 and 59 yards for their three first half touchdowns and ACA responded each time with drives of 64, 67 and 57 to match the Golden Eagles touchdown for touchdown. The first half ended with ACA leading 23-22.

In the third quarter the pace of the game slowed a bit as each team handled the ball only twice and just one touchdown was scored by BTW. The score came after a fourth down stop that seemed to ignite the Golden Eagle team. ACA had driven the ball to BTW’s 10 yard line and decided to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal, but the Golden Eagles sniffed out the trick play and stopped the Eagles five yards short of the end zone. In response, BTW took the field and raced through the defense to go 95 yards in only four plays to retake the lead, 28-23.

The fourth quarter started with a great opportunity for BTW to score after their second interception of the night. However, on this occasion, the Alabama Christian defense stood tall and stopped the Golden Eagle effort inside the 10 yard line. ACA’s offense responded with a six play 94 yard march capped off with a Corey Landers 16 yard run to make the score 30-28 in favor of Alabama Christian. Jalen Clark set up the score with runs of 38, 12, 20 and seven yards before Landers punched it into the end zone. BTW answered back in just four plays to once again retake the lead, 36-30. The first play of the drive was the key play as BTW completed a 56 yard pass because the Golden Eagle receiver was able to get behind the defense.

With 5:44 remaining in the game, ACA took the field and Jalen Clark took over the offense. The drive lasted only two plays and 39 seconds as Clark opened up with a 41 yard run and then scored on a 23 yard play to give the Eagles their final lead of the game. Unfortunately, this left plenty of time for BTW to set up the game winning score. Several times during the final drive it looked as if the Eagles were going to stop the BTW drive, but the Golden Eagles made just enough plays to keep the drive going. The final play came on a fourth and goal and covered 21 yards to give BTW the victory.

Next week the Eagles (4-4) travel to Ashford in a key area match up to determine their playoff future.

Lady Eagles Split Tri-Match on Senior Night

Six seniors, Bailey DiNunzio, Savannah Fonville, Mary Hall, Aniya Jackson, Emily Thornton and Monica Willingham, won the last game played on their home floor with a 23-25, 25-18, 15-13 defeat of Wetumpka in the second game of a tri-match Thursday night. ACA lost to PCA in the first match of the night by scores of 13-25, 25-22, 13-15.

The Lady Eagles started slowly against PCA and never led in the game, except 1-0 on the first point of the match. In game two, the Eagles again started slowly and trailed 11-19 before scoring 14 of the next 17 points to even the match 1-1. Alyson Thornton and Savannah Fonville served the last 12 points to clinch the game. In game three, momentum was in the Eagle’s corner after Mary Reagan Hilyer made two saves during a rally and helped ACA take a 12-11 lead. The Lady Panthers withstood the scare and finished off the Eagles 15-13. Alyson Thornton led the offense with eight kills and three aces while Mary Hall, Jordan Smithee and Monica Willingham each added four kills. Emily Thornton had 21 assists and three aces with Savannah Fonville contributing 11 digs.

Against Wetumpka, the Eagles led game one 17-13, but let the lead slip away losing 23-25. With game two tied 7-7, ACA pulled away and evened the match to force a third game. The third game was close throughout, but the Eagles prevailed 15-13 to send the seniors home winners. Jordan Smithee hit the ball as well as she had all year and had 15 kills in the match. Monica Willingham added four kills. Emily Thornton had 16 assists while her sister, Alyson had eleven. Savannah Fonville, who spent most of the night diving on the floor for balls had nine digs.

The cross country seniors were also recognized on Thursday night. The five runners were Payton DeCapite, Marlo Duggan, Kyndall Foley, Judd Hardin and Timia Nelson.

Emily Thornton's Record Setting Week Earns Her Athlete of the Week

Emily Thornton had a week to remember as she broke the all time assists mark in Alabama Christian history. Thornton passed the 3,000 assist plateau against Catholic on Tuesday, becoming just the 21st player in the state to ever break that mark and only the fourth player from the Montgomery area. On Saturday, at the Shrimp Fest Invitational in Gulf Shores, Thornton broke the school record with her 3,099th assist against Fairhope and finished the day with 3,122 assists. Thornton is currently ranked 17th in state history for career assists.

Lady Eagles Split Six Matches in Shrimp Fest Invitational

Alabama Christian finished 3-3 in six games at the Shrimp Festival Invitational in Gulf Shores. The Lady Eagles defeated Guntersville 25-17, 25-17 and Saraland 25-22, 23-25, 15-12 on Friday night. On Saturday, ACA lost to Carbon Hill 22-25, 17-25 and Our Lady Academy 16-25, 19-25 before beating Fairhope 25-12, 25-18. The Eagles ended the day with a loss in a rematch with Guntersville 25-18, 19-25, 10-15.

ACA was led by Alyson Thornton with 34 kills with 23 digs and four aces. Jordan Smithee contributed 31 kills and had a team best seven aces. Emily Thornton added 19 kills and a team high 106 kills. Against Fairhope, Emily Thornton became the all time leader in assists at ACA passing Blair Brendle.

Alabama Christian Runs in MA Invitational

Kyndall Foley continued her strong senior season with a second place finish out of 82 runners at the MA Invitational in Grady, AL. Foley produced a season best time of 20:36.61 and continues to move closer to the school record of 20:25.93 set in 2014. Marlo Duggan finished 23rd with a time of 25:14.38 and Payton DeCapite finished 43rd with a time of 28:17.81 on the afternoon. Timia Nelson turned in a season best time of 34:37.70.

Connor Strowbridge led the Eagles in the boys division with a 40th place finish out of 120 runners and a time of 20:48.91. Bryan Burleson had a season best run of 22:54.67.

Eagles Win Third in a Row in Mistake Filled Game

ACA extended its winning streak Friday night with a 14-7 defeat of LaFayette. The victory was the third in a row for the Eagles and marked the first win against the Bulldogs since 2002. The game was filled with penalties and mistakes as both teams combined for 20 penalties on the night. Coach Nate Sanford commented, “Good thing there are no style points in football. Even though we had five turnovers and lots of penalties, I was proud of the mental toughness of our guys to only give up seven points against a very fast team.”

The five Eagle turnovers put pressure on their own defense throughout the contest. Four Bulldog drives started in Eagle territory yet ACA’s defense only allowed one touchdown despite being on the field for 73 plays. Inside linebackers Jackson Thomas and Miller McCarthy led the defensive effort with ten and nine tackles, respectively. Preston Perry added seven tackles and Khalil Jackson had three tackles and a sack. As a team, the defense had tackles for a loss on 12 different plays.

After a great kickoff return by Demari Moore to the LaFayette 40 yard line, the Eagles scored a touchdown in seven plays to take an early 7-0 lead. Demari Moore ran the last 19 yards of the drive on two carries with the touchdown run covering 12 yards. Late in the first quarter, the Eagles muffed a punt return and set up LaFayette for its only score of the game. Despite committing three penalties in four plays, the Bulldogs were able to tie the game 7-7. ACA would turn the ball over two more times in the first half, but kept LaFayette from scoring again. The first half ended with a Khalil Jackson sack and the teams went to the locker room tied, 7-7.

LaFayette controlled the ball for 7:58 of the 12 minutes of the third quarter. The winning march for Alabama Christian started at the end of the third quarter and concluded in the fourth quarter. The drive lasted 14 plays over 70 yards and took 6:37 off the clock. ACA converted a third and a fourth down on Jalen Clark runs on the drive. Corey Landers’ 18 yard carry set the offense up inside the Bulldog 20 yard line. Clark finished off the game clinching drive with a one yard run with 8:10 remaining in the game. As the Eagles tried to put the game away late in the contest, LaFayette intercepted an ill advised pass and appeared to be ready to return it for a score that would tie the game. Demari Moore raced across the field and stopped the Bulldog defender at the 20 yard line for the game saving tackle. The defense allowed only three yards and took the ball back on downs allowing ACA to run out the clock to seal the victory.

Although the air attack struggled during the game, the ground game was solid as the Eagles averaged 5.7 yards per carry as a team. Jalen Clark led the rushing attack with 88 yards on 17 attempts while Corey Landers ran for 86 yards on 15 rushes. Demari Moore added 53 yards on 8 carries.

Next week, ACA (4-3) plays host to Booker T Washington for Homecoming.

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.