Village Christian finding success under Stone
Jaclyn Shambaugh FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Before the start of the football season, Village Christian’s schedule looked unkind, to say the least.
The Knights opened the season with a three-game road trip, kicked off with a stop at High Point Christian, a regular in the NCISAA postseason.
Despite the tough row, the Knights are out to a 3-1 record and on a threegame winning streak.
The success has come under the leadership of coach Russell Stone, in his first year with Village Christian but familiar to high school football fans in the region from his time at Douglas Byrd.
The Knights have made major strides since last season, when they finished 4-6.
The team is making good use of a mix of veteran returners, like quarterback Caleb Russell, and talented newcomers, like sophomore receiver Emery Simmons, who’s been Russell’s top target.
The Knights suffered a 41-6 loss at High Point Christian to start the season, but they’ve earned three straight victories since.
“We found out a lot about ourselves in that first week against High Point Christian,” Stone says. “We tried to get faster on defense, so we moved two safeties to defensive end and linebacker, and we’ve been getting steadily better on defense.”
Village has given up just 62 points on the season — including those 41 at High Point Christian — and posted back-to-back shutouts in the last two weeks.
The Knights still have several dangerous opponents remaining on the schedule.
Stone points out two in particular, Indian Trail Metrolina Christian, which the Knights host this week, and Statesville Christian (5-0).
Metrolina is a perennial threat in the NCISAA Division III, where it reached the second round of the state playoffs last season to finish with an 8-3 record.
The Warriors are 2-2 this season, with a narrow loss to Concord First Assembly (4-1) and a shutout loss to Huntersville SouthLake Christian, the two-time reigning Division II state champion.
One opponent that might prove particularly tough that Stone didn’t mention is Trinity Christian.
The Crusaders, like Village, have a bounty of talented players at the skill positions.
Like the Knights, Trinity is 3-1, including a win against SouthLake.
The private schools in Fayetteville have been lacking a competitive, cross-town football rival in recent years, as the teams haven’t had the parity to make their matchups consistently close.
With Village on the rise and Trinity continuing to develop a traditionally successful program, the teams might have found the intra-city rivalry the private schools have been looking for.
Jaclyn Shambaugh FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER
Before the start of the football season, Village Christian’s schedule looked unkind, to say the least.
The Knights opened the season with a three-game road trip, kicked off with a stop at High Point Christian, a regular in the NCISAA postseason.
Despite the tough row, the Knights are out to a 3-1 record and on a threegame winning streak.
The success has come under the leadership of coach Russell Stone, in his first year with Village Christian but familiar to high school football fans in the region from his time at Douglas Byrd.
The Knights have made major strides since last season, when they finished 4-6.
The team is making good use of a mix of veteran returners, like quarterback Caleb Russell, and talented newcomers, like sophomore receiver Emery Simmons, who’s been Russell’s top target.
The Knights suffered a 41-6 loss at High Point Christian to start the season, but they’ve earned three straight victories since.
“We found out a lot about ourselves in that first week against High Point Christian,” Stone says. “We tried to get faster on defense, so we moved two safeties to defensive end and linebacker, and we’ve been getting steadily better on defense.”
Village has given up just 62 points on the season — including those 41 at High Point Christian — and posted back-to-back shutouts in the last two weeks.
The Knights still have several dangerous opponents remaining on the schedule.
Stone points out two in particular, Indian Trail Metrolina Christian, which the Knights host this week, and Statesville Christian (5-0).
Metrolina is a perennial threat in the NCISAA Division III, where it reached the second round of the state playoffs last season to finish with an 8-3 record.
The Warriors are 2-2 this season, with a narrow loss to Concord First Assembly (4-1) and a shutout loss to Huntersville SouthLake Christian, the two-time reigning Division II state champion.
One opponent that might prove particularly tough that Stone didn’t mention is Trinity Christian.
The Crusaders, like Village, have a bounty of talented players at the skill positions.
Like the Knights, Trinity is 3-1, including a win against SouthLake.
The private schools in Fayetteville have been lacking a competitive, cross-town football rival in recent years, as the teams haven’t had the parity to make their matchups consistently close.
With Village on the rise and Trinity continuing to develop a traditionally successful program, the teams might have found the intra-city rivalry the private schools have been looking for.
