Meadowview Christian goes 0-11 but jelling and in AISA playoffs

"They’re starting to jell together as a family.”

Those were the words of Don White, first-year head football coach and athletic director for the Meadowview Christian School Trojans after his team dropped their 11th game of 2022 on Friday, Oct. 28 by a score of 40-8 to the Southern Christian

Academy Patriots in Opelika. And his team will get to show that unity in the AISA 8-Man state football championship playoffs.

The Trojans, who went 0-11 overall and 0-5 in region play with a losing streak going back to 2017, will face the Southern Prep Academy Fighting Rangers in the AISA 8-Man Playoffs on the road in Camp Hill on Friday, Nov. 4. The Trojans lost to the Fighting Rangers 47-0 in the regular season.

White said Friday’s contest at Southern Christian Academy was “really a pretty good game” for his team. He said the Trojans were stopped on drives by penalties such as too many men in the backfield and jumping offsides. But he said his Trojans did not give up a single point in the second half. And, he said freshman Alex Johnson and senior Demaje Gunn both had a “great night” for Meadowview along with junior Hayden Mott, who caught a 40-yard pass.

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Johnson went 20 of 30 passing for 250 yards through the air and rushed for 100 yards on the ground.

Gunn scored the Trojans’ only touchdown on a 35-yard strike he caught in triple coverage, and Johnson ran in the 2-point play.

“It’s been a learning experience this year,” White said. And “We are going to the playoffs next week.” He added, “From where they started at the first of the year to where they are now, they are starting to jell together as a family. That is one of my biggest things, to make these boys see that football is about taking care of one another.”

White said he is teaching things in football that a person can carry with them the rest of their lives. And he said, “I think they’ve gleaned a little from this year.”