PREP PREVIEW: ACA Eagles looking for a little more in 2021
ACA’s Avery Stuart can see the Eagles on another deep run in the playoffs in 2021. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
Alabama Christian’s football team believes that last year laid the foundation for a deeper run in the state playoffs this season.
“I think we can go to state this year,” said ACA junior Avery Stuart, referring to the Super 7 Championships. “I thought we could go to state last year, too. We just have to work as a family, work together and accomplish the goals we set this year.”
Last year, the Eagles relied on Capital City Conference Player of the Year Jalen Clark, who took his talents to Louisiana-Lafayette. This year, the Eagles may have another big-play threat in Stuart, who will contribute on both sides of the ball this season.
“When he was a freshman, I remember calling him over and showing him, this is the average height of a corner, look at your height, look at your length and look at these Rivals’ top corners,” ACA coach Michael Summers said. “Imagine if you buy in.”
Stuart did. And his reward is a ranking (No. 152) on the Rivals 250 for the class of 2023, along with offers from Ole Miss, Penn State, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Troy and Auburn.
“He’s put in a lot of extra work,” Summers said. “Avery started four or five games as a freshman and then got injured. But you can’t coach 6-foot-2. He’s got a 39-inch vertical, he’s got a 78-inch reach. He’s 100 percent in drills. Everything he does, he works hard. He’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he gets to that next level.”
When ACA takes the field on Thursday for the 2021 season opener at Trinity’s Ragsdale-Boykin Field, you can find Stuart in his familiar place at cornerback, anchoring the Eagles’ defense.
“Avery’s a pretty good tackler, so we’re going to do some stuff where he’s our run force at corner as well,” Summers said. “When Auburn called, they asked if he could play outside linebacker. He could.”
But his biggest contribution may come on the offensive side of the ball, where he provides a formidable target for quarterback Hayes Hunt.
“And we’ve got a couple of packages with him at quarterback,” Summers added.
Stuart set modest goals for himself -- “to get more interceptions than I had last year” -- which should come this year despite people not throwing his direction, simply because he didn’t record any interceptions last year. His bigger goal is to improve the overall team defense, which allowed 21.4 points per game last season.
“I think we’ve got a good defense,” he said, referring to a slight change in scheme after Summers was promoted to head coach and Greg Howard took Summers’ place as defensive coordinator. “It’s the same mindset as last year, that every game is a new game.”
It’s also relishing the role of underdog. Last year, the Eagles won the school’s first region championship under the current format established in 2000 and won a school-record 10 games for only the second time in program history. No one is expecting the Eagles to do it again this season.
“It definitely makes us hungry because we’re the underdogs in Montgomery,” Stuart said. “When you say ‘ACA,’ people don’t think about the football program so I feel like we’ve got something to prove every time we step on the field.”