Russell Christian shuts out Tabernacle 38-0

By Jackson Hillis

GARDENDALE, AL – The Russell Christian Academy Warriors traveled to Gardendale’s Bill Noble Park to face the Tabernacle Torches in an exciting mid-season CFA contest. The Warriors, fresh off their previous week’s loss to Jacksonville Christian Academy, put up a dominating 38-0 performance against the Torches, who faced a slew of unfortunate injurious losses throughout the night.

These were headlined by the exit of the Torches’ starting quarterback Aaron Peters in the second quarter. Immediately before the incident, Peters had pulled down the ball on a designed quarterback run, which took him directly into a throng of Torches and Warriors alike. In the ensuing chaos, Peters sustained a head injury which halted play and warranted the sideline examination that would ultimately rule him out for the game. Tabernacle, already reeling from the loss, went down another starter later in the second half, as senior offensive playmaker Jeremy Herard was pulled following a head injury similar to Peters’ that was sustained on a sideline tackle.

In Peters’ absence, the Torches called on sophomore gunslinger Landn Ervin, a second-year player with Tabernacle’s squad. With their offense having to adjust heavily for the situation, the Torches were still able to move the ball downfield, aided by Ervin’s exceptional deep ball on a few connections to wideout Kyle Gillis. Although they played well situationally, the Torches failed to consistently sustain drives to the endzone. They frequently found themselves on the wrong end of negative plays that would hamper their ability to sustain momentum or consistency.

One major driving factor in the defeat was a lack of consistent play from the offensive front, which affected both the Torches’ air and ground attacks as they were limited to just 27 total yards of offense, including nearly 50 yards worth of conceded territory from negative plays and penalties. Ervin would post a total 61 passing yards in addition to the 24 accounted for by Peters preceding his exit. The Torches would also tack on 16 yards on the ground on just as many attempts by a slew of offensive pieces.

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The Warriors’ offense was dedicated to the run throughout the night. An offensive duo of quarterback Bo Morphis and halfback Ty Jones amounted for a large chunk of their team’s offensive yardage, posting 179 combined rushing yards on 23 carries for 2 scores. Jace Woods and Andrew Cole also found the endzone, tallying 60 yards and two touchdowns on just two combined runs. Morphis would only attempt 4 passes over the course of the game, all of which fell incomplete. The Warriors also found themselves on the wrong side of the turnover differential despite the win, turning the ball over three times in the contest.

The Warriors seem to have successfully corrected course following their first loss of the season, as they head into their ensuing home matchup against Sylvia Bay Academy with a 5-1 record. The Torches will look to do the same, looking forward to a trip to Columbus, Miss. to face Victory Christian Academy in an important conference matchup for both squads.