The Bethlehem Christian Academy football program is on the verge of something special.
The Knights will play a full varsity schedule for the first time in 2012 and the first step on that adventure is set for Friday. BCA will host Augusta Prep at 7:30 p.m. on the Knights’ “home” stadium at Legion Field in Monroe. BCA is competing at the stadium until an on-campus facility is constructed.
“The kids are excited,” Knights head coach Don Garmon said. “It is just not excitement with the team, but the entire school is ready for this Friday. It will be a special night.”
In preparing for this week’s opponent, Garmon said Augusta Prep likes to run the veer on offense with a double wing look using buck sweeps.
“They will pretty much stick with their set offense, but they will use different personnel packages,” Garmon said. “Defensively, they will give us a 4-3 look and put seven or eight players in the box. We think we’ll have a good game plan for them.”
The Knights have been in “fine tune” mode this week, Garmon said.
“We feel good about where we are,” the head coach said. “We had a real good week of practice last week and I couldn’t be any prouder of the players for their effort in learning our system.”
BCA offensive coordinator Lance Fendley said the opponent for the season opener will definitely present a challenge for the Knights.
“Augusta Prep is a good football team,” Fendley said. “They are fundamentally sound in what they do defensively. They run a 4-3 defense with a high safety. They play mainly a ‘cover 4’ in the secondary. I really think this will be a great game for the first one.
“Offensively, we expect to hit the perimeter with our screen game and we also will hit the flats of the field with our quick pass game. We must run the football well. We will have to play assignment football, pick up the blitz, make the correct checks and run the offense the way these kids know how to do it. It should be a great game. The first four contests will be a great experience before we get into region play.”
Defensively, BCA has been working under the guidance of coordinator Nick Pou.
“Augusta Prep will show us a lot of option and veer material,” Pou said. “We have gone to work breaking down everything they do and our answer for it. I believe we have a solid defensive gameplan as long as we stay disciplined in our assignments. They don’t have one athlete that will blow you away, but they work well together as a team which can be tougher to plan for. We’ve got to stop any big plays because their offense will gobble up yards and time. We just have to eliminate anything big.”
Augusta Prep head coach Harry Bacheller said he expects a competitive contest this Friday.
Our situation is similar as we are both new programs,” Bacheller said. “We did start a year before they did, but we only played four games that year. But having those games and practices are a big advantage when two new programs are playing each other. I am sure they will be getting better and better each week. They do a good job over there and have made some off season additions that will only benefit them as well.”
