Trojans set to host Sumter Academy in region contest
Published 11:21 pm Thursday, August 23, 2012

Meadowview Christian’s Michael Ward (3) tries to get around the corner during a scrimmage game against Southern Academy this past week. The Trojans will host Sumter Academy for their season opener. -- Tim Reeves
The Meadowview Christian School Trojans are set to open up the season on Friday night, and they’ll do so in familiar territory.
The Trojans will open the season at home on Friday, as they’ll face off against the Sumter Academy Eagles at 7 p.m. in an Alabama Independent School Association Class A Region 2 game.
Lebo Jones, head football coach of Meadowview Christian School, said the Trojans have been struggling with a few injuries, but the players are ready to hit the field.
“The boys seem real excited about the first real game,” Jones said. “This game really means something. We’ve had some guys step up this week that surprised me a little bit. We don’t have many kids dressed out — we’ve got a lot of injuries right now — but the ones we’ve got dressed out, I think, will be ready to play.”
Jones said the Trojans will face a Sumter team that’s accustomed to winning.
“Sumter, they’ve been running the split-backfield Veer for years and they do it real well. They’re traditionally a winning program,” Jones said. “They know how to win and it’ll be a tough matchup for us.”
Jones highlighted fundamentals as what will determine how well his team is able to perform and whether the Trojans can open the season with a win.
“The main thing we’re going to have to do well is block better and tackle better than we did in the scrimmage,” Jones said. “We also have to stay healthy and not get hurt the best we can. I think we’re in shape, but we just don’t have much depth right now.”
Jones and his staff have placed extra significance on the little things in practice, and he’s hoping his team can carry that over into Friday night.
“Hopefully, we’ll play like we’ve been practicing,” Jones said. “We practice on not fumbling — we do fumble drills — we go over our offense a lot and going on two and stuff to keep from jumping offsides. All you can really do, as coaches, is to do the best you can and hope the kids will execute.”