Dedication describes this year’s football team. August 1st may have been the technical start date of pre-season, but the Vikings were working hard long before this, spending their summer days in the weight room and on the field.
This year, new coach, Robin Miller, a defensive coordinator from Licking Valley High School, leads the team. Based on his experience, Miller understands the key to a strong team is not the size of the players but rather the size of the team. In preparation for his first year at Academy, Miller focused on recruiting students. And he succeeded. The varsity roster has 38 names this year, up from 26 last season.
On Academy’s First Friday on August 28, the Vikes settled onto the field, as did their opponents, Grove City Christian. Both teams’ captains shook hands, followed by the coin flip: Academy received the kickoff.
No one imagined that six seconds into the game the crowd would erupt as the Vikings scored the first touchdown. Michael Kusi’17 caught the ball and sprinted 88 yards, dodging tackles to put 6 points on the board. Sam Tuckerman’16 kicked the extra point, making the score 7-0.
Roman Bellisari’17 was the next to score after he ran 63 yards to score, giving the Vikings a 13-0 score.
In the second quarter at the fourth down on the 25-yard line, the Vikes’ coaches told the players to go for it. So the ball snapped, and Nick Stringer’17 wound up to pass. Jerome Buckner’18 caught it in the end zone, giving Academy a 19-0 lead.
After halftime, the Vikes were ready to score again. Buckner ran the ball into the end zone, and Kyle Channell’19 kicked a successful extra point to soar past Grove City Christian with a 26-0 lead.
Stringer threw another touchdown pass to Herman Moultrie’18, and Channell kicked another point for the Vikes to beat Grove City Christian 33-0.
by Taylor Bates’16
Team Roster
Nathan Barnes’19
Brett Bates’17 (C)
Darren Bates’17
Keenan Bellisari’19
Roman Bellisari’17
Mike Boeckman’18
Chris Boyle’19
Jerome Buckner’18
Kyle Channell’19
Deven Cobb’19
Caleb Crawley’19
Jordan Dearing-Hardiman’19
Dalyn DeCree’19
Cole Duffy’19
Davis Friedman’18
Max Glass’19
Jacob Jeffers’16
Thomas Jones’19
Michael Kusi’17
Andrew Meyers’17
Hayden Meyers’19
Harry Mills’19
Jack Mills’16 (C)
Jeremiah Mills’17
Dorian Moultrie’19
Herman Moultrie’18
Carson Nichols’18
Josh Pearson’18
Solomon Pierre-Louis’18
Dalton Porter’16 (C)
Max Rocco’17
Matt Saling’18
Damian Steiner’17
Nick Stringer’17
Anthony Sugar’17
Sam Tuckerman’16
Matt Watters’16 (C)
Tyler Whitt’17
Liam Wainaina’16
Coach: Robin Miller
