25 teams in 25 days: Christian Collegiate Academy

“I am very excited to hopefully end it on a good note this time.”

Those are the words from senior offensive lineman Carmine Naramore, but are words echoed throughout the entire CCA football team. Last season the Bulldogs finished with an impressive 7-4 record with their season coming to an end with a thrilling second round payoff game against Newton County Academy. Players throughout the program say there are things they can take from last season to make sure their story ends differently this year.

“A lot of times when we get behind, we get down on ourselves a lot,” Naramore said. “We just get in our heads more than the other team. If we can just prevent ourselves from doing that this year, I believe we will have a really successful season.”

“Maintaining the accountability for the team,” sophomore Cameron Karnes said. “It is a lot of pressure a little bit but it is really exciting.”

But what makes 8-man football different than the prototypical 11-man football? Bulldogs head coach Steve Spinks says the differences and challenges can make for a more exciting game for the players and fans.

“We play on standard football fields most of the time except on our field,” Spinks said. “The challenges for the defense are they have to cover the whole field with eight players instead of 11. A lot of people thing 8-man is not real football…it is football, It’s football minus three guys.”

8-man football, 11-man football, sprint football…to coach Spinks and his players it does not matter what kind of football they are gearing up to play. They are ready for everyone to find out that they are looking to build off a successful year and compete for a state championship.

“That is what we work for all year long,” Naramore said. “To play on Friday night lights and just be able to hit someone.”

“Ah man we cannot wait,” coach Spinks said. “This gets mundane after a while, you know, when you are working out all summer and conditioning with the goal in mind of getting ready to play and kick off the season. We are pumped. We are just so ready to go against somebody else other than ourselves so we are excited.”

Luckily for the Bulldogs, they get a head start to their new year when look at all the others teams on our 25 teams in 25 days. Week one for Christian Collegiate Academy is August 23rd, and entire week earlier than anyone else, as they travel to Sylva Bay Academy.