25 Teams in 25 Days: Christian Collegiate Academy
It’s day 10 of 25 Teams in 25 Days and it’s going to be quite the historic season for this local football team. Introducing you to the Christian Collegiate Academy Bulldogs!
“I’m excited for the first 11-man game and making history for the school,” said 8th grade running back and linebacker Gabe Cabral. “I’m just really excited for it. ”
“It feels great,” said junior wide receiver and safety TJ Lisenby “It’s definitely a big milestone for CCA.”
Yes, you heard them correctly, Chrisitan Collegiate Academy is taking the big step from 8-man football to 11-man this 2025 season. The Bulldogs will play in Class 3A with MAIS also known as the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools.
“We’re making the switch from 8-man to 11-man, so I’m excited about that and excited to see how we’ll stack up against the teams that we’re going to play,” said six year Head Coach Steve Spinks. “I know it’s going to be a challenge for us, but I think our guys are up for the challenge.”
A whole lot of new is in store for CCA this upcoming year, but they’re excited about some returners suiting up again in the navy and white.
“We have several returners. We have Aaron Prestwood who is a senior for us. We have
Alex Cabral who’s going to be a sophomore for us and Sean Stevens will be a junior for us. Those guys are returners, and we’ll also have some new faces, so everything’s wide open right now,” Coach Spinks said. “We told our guys nobody is set in stone. We have some ideas of who may play where, but they’ve got to earn their spots and that’s one of the beauties of having a young team is your building so you’re trying to figure out who to play where and who’s best where.”
They may not have quantity but they do have quality. The Bulldogs aren’t just eager to be on the gridiron, but they’re eager to make each other better.
“It’s always a good opportunity and a good challenge to help young men understand and learn the game of football. We’ve got some team speed which I’m really satisfied with,” Coach Spinks said. “We also have great attitudes. This team probably has the best attitude of any team I’ve ever had as far as work ethic and getting together and having that team mentality that they’re all about each other and I’m really excited and proud about that.”
“We have a lot on our backs this year,” said Cabral. “They think we’re just going to come down and not be good and just be run over and stuff, but I don’t think that. I think we have a lot of heart. We have skill and I think we’re going to be great this year. We have a bunch of leadership and good team bonding. We don’t fight as much like last year we had a bunch of fights, but that’s a part of the team called competition and I love competition and I love the way we fight over competition and fight over our spot, so I think we have a bunch of leaders on the team and we aren’t going to let anybody slack off.”
“We’re quick. We might be undersized, but we definitely play as a team. There’s no one man that we’ll throw it up to him, he’s going to run the ball and win us the game. Everybody’s playing and everybody’s contributing to win. Everybody here is coming together,” said Lisenby. “We’re not facing this with it’s going to be tough. We’re facing this like we’re coming together and we’re going to show them who CCA is,”
As for who CCA is and what they stand for, they make it loud and clear.
“Being a part of the team is absolutely huge, especially with guys your age,” said junior offensive lineman and defensive end William Borguezan. “It’s a lot better and helps your high school years go along. I’m just excited to start this year with the team all for the glory of God. Being rooted together with my teammates is huge.”
“First and foremost we’re a Christian school and we take that seriously,” Coach Spinks said. “We want to represent Christ in everything that we do. We want to represent ourselves with class. We want to represent our families with class, and we just want to go out and be the best guys we can be. Be great sportsmen and also competitive. We want to beat the sock off of you if we can, and if we don’t we want to be great sports in the process as well and that’s who we are and what we’re about.
Christian Collegiate Academy will officially kick off high school football on the Mississippi Gulf Coast as they play St. Luke’s Episcopal on August 22nd.
