By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
CLAY – Homeschool football deserves some love too. There, I said it. They get in the weight room, run, lift, sweat, bleed and probably cry together, just like the rest of the teams out there.
In Tribuneland, we have a group of young men who are led by a group of adults, playing football. The difference in these young men and the ones we have covered so far is that these young men are homeschooled.
The team, the East Central Patriots, is made up of students from Clay, Pinson, Trussville and other surrounding cities in our area. “We’ve got kids from Crosspoint, Trussville First Baptist, all over the area,” said second-year head coach Daniel Smith, who has been with the football program since 2019, when East Central decided that they would re-boot the football program that began in 2007 but was unable to continue. “The re-boot opened the door for other sports to take hold and now we have every major sport available for boys and girls. We even have bass fishing,” said Coach Smith.
The Patriots enter 2023 with some momentum from the previous year. 2022 was the most successful year East Central has had. They went 5-5 and made it to the playoffs in 2022, scoring more points than they gave up. All of these were firsts for the Patriots as they struggled through the 2019 and 2021 seasons (they did not field a team in 2020).
Leadership for East Central is not lacking this year, as the Patriots take the field with 12 seniors, over half of the entire roster, led by quarterback Knox Cooper and running backs Killian Fach and Dominic Paffumi. Cassian Fach and Micah Smith are also key parts of the offense at wide receiver.
Playing 8-man football, the line is crucial, and the Patriots have a group of seniors up there in Lane Albus, Simon Faulk, Jacob Lane and Dakota Bosworth, who all split time at offensive and defensive line.
Add in senior linebackers Joe Murphree, who had a great game on Friday, and Seth Allison as well as the receivers who fill the defensive back role, and they have a lot of experience on the defensive side of the ball.
The Patriots kicked off their season on Friday, August 11th with a blowout win over Tuscaloosa Christian, 37-0. They put up 7 in the first two quarters to take a 14-0 lead into the locker room at half, but the defense got in on the scoring fun in the third quarter where they scored 9 of the 16 total points on a pick six by Killian Fach and a safety by Joe Murphree. To finish off the Knights, East Central added another touchdown in the fourth to complete the 37-0 season opening win. “It was a big win and a great way to start the season,” said Coach Smith. “Now, if we can get a win this Friday, it will be a huge deal for our program.”
East Central takes on their toughest test of the year this coming Friday night as Evangel Christian comes to Clay. Evangel won their first game 34-12 over Cary Christian on Sunday, August 13. Evangel has been around since 2004, having a winning record every season with the exception of 2006. Evangel got the win over East Central last season 65-13 in the season opener. The Lightning are a powerhouse in 8-man football and will pose a big challenge for the Patriots.
“They have multiple championships and a great program, so if we can get a win Friday night, it will be huge for us. They are well-coached and have a great history.”
The game will be played at the Clay City football field on Old Springville Road, beside the old library and the disc golf course, on Friday night at 7:00.