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Hernando Today

A Win and They're In

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By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.

Hernando Today

Published: November 1, 2008

Tonight in a rare Saturday game, the Hernando Christian Academy program can win its first championship of any kind.

HCA hosts St. Petersburg-Canterbury School of Florida for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Ernie Wever Youth Park. The 9-0 Lions can become the second Hernando County team to finish a regular season undefeated.

But more importantly, HCA would improve to 3-0 in the Southern Division of the Sunshine State Athletic Conference, claiming the division crown and locking up a spot in the conference title game Nov. 15 at The Villages against the Northern Division champ.

"It's a very important game," HCA Head Coach David Raley said. "It's a very, very big game. We've been talking about it for some time.

"...We don't look ahead. We never look any farther than Friday and this week Saturday. We're essentially a new team, we're rebuilt. The kids are working as hard as they always have."

The Lions have unexpectedly rolled through their first nine games despite a slew of transfers to Hernando High.

Since winning 21-14 over Bishop McLaughlin to start the season, HCA has won by at least two scores each game. In fact, the Lions are defeating their opponents by an average of 23.6 points after last week's 60-20 triumph over Winter Garden-Foundation Academy.

Canterbury comes in at 4-3, including a forfeit earlier this month. The Crusaders are 0-1 in the division thanks to a 41-28 loss to Bishop McLaughlin.

The only other common opponent between the two teams, at least to this point, is Mount Dora Bible. While Canterbury squeezed out a 10-9 win last week, HCA thumped Mount Dora Bible in September, 29-7.

Still, Raley compares the Crusaders to Bradenton-St. Stephen's, considered the Lions' toughest opponent to date. HCA beat St. Stephen's on Oct. 3, 18-7.

"They run a very unique offense called the spin," Raley said. "They essentially run their offense out of the shotgun. They're very Florida Gator-ish in putting together the single wing and the shotgun. Hopefully they don't have Florida's athletes.

"They don't have a lot of very large athletes on the line, which is where our advantage lies. It's going to be an interesting conflict of ideas on Saturday."

Of course HCA thrives on running a smash mouth attack behind a veteran offensive line. However, running back Jeremy Knight is only 75 percent, according to Raley, as he nurses a sprained ankle.

Knight played through the injury last week and still scored two touchdowns as well as running in five 2-point conversions.

Defensively, the Lions should benefit from an extra day of practice to prepare for the Canterbury offense.

"We have our defense, you just kind of practice against what they do," Raley said. "You widen people out a little is what you have to do.

"The last few weeks we've faced some very tight single-wing formations. They spread you out sideline to sideline and run the same play. It isn't something we haven't seen, it's just a different way of doing things."
But Raley and the Lions would much rather take care of business themselves in what figures to be a big-game atmosphere.
"I think we'll have people come out to see us because their game is on Friday," Raley said. "Hopefully we have people from town come to see us and if we have a nice audience hopefully we win. Of course I always hope we win."

2008 SSAC Southern Division standings
PL TEAM W L .PCT
1. HCA 2 0 1.000
2. Bishop McLaughlin 1 1 .500
3. Carrollwood Day 0 1 .000
3. Canterbury 0 1 .000
TOTALS 3 3 .500

Sports writer Chris Bernhardt Jr. can be reached at (352) 544-5288 or cbernhardt@hernandotoday.com.

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