Head coach Stacy Bell has taken a long, patient approach to Northside Christian Academy football.

Bell aims to bring stability to the 5-year-old program while building a consistent winning team.

“Our kids have done everything we’ve asked,” Bell said. “They understand that when you go to a school like Northside, it’s not necessarily about athletics or academics or your faith. It’s big picture. So our goal is every day. It doesn’t change for us.

“Whether we’re playing Andrew Jackson (Academy), whether we’re playing Jefferson Davis (Academy), we prepare the same way. Our coaching staff will come in on Saturday. We’ll have a game plan for Monday. We’ll go from there.”

Friday’s 7:30 pm season-opener against defending SCISA 8-man champion Andrew Jackson Academy will serve as a measuring stick for the Crusaders.

The Warriors have won 4 of the last 5 titles entering the 1st ever meeting against Northside Christian.

Andrew Jackson Academy has won 12 straight games dating back to last year’s championship season and 58 of its last 59 games dating back to 2015.

The run started under former Lexington High head coach Allen Sitterle and continued under 2nd year head coach Jason Peek.

“They’re a very physical team,” said Bell about Andrew Jackson Academy. “They are primarily a runheavy team. They know what they want to do and they’re very physical.”

Northside Christian returns several starters.

Max McKenna is back at quarterback with targets Brayden Ross at slot, Luke Charlie Compton at wide receiver and Luke Cochran at split end.

Jacob Spangler leads the offensive line with newcomers Javin Martin, Dillon Judy and Bryson McElmore.

Defensively, the Crusaders will play an aggressive 3-man front with McKenna, Compton and Ross at linebacker. It will get tested against a Andrew Jackson Academy which has averaged over 50 points a game the past 2 seasons.

“Our goal every day is to get better,” Bell said. “Whether we’re at practice, whether we’re lifting weights, whether we’re in the classroom. We’re going to try to have Northside improve and then we have 8 games after that that we’ll continue to do the same thing.

“We don’t want to try to judge everything off of 1 game. Our goal is to get better everyday.” ing through hard times, we worked through the adversity and we stepped up. That’s what life’s about, just stepping up.”

CRUSADERS ROSTER

Head Coach: Stacy Bell

1 Brayden Ross

3 Jake Daniels

4 Max McKenna

7 Charlie Compton

10 Jacob Fender

12 Sullie Crider

22 Luke Cochran

35 JC Claytor

44 Gaven Ford

65 Jacob Spangler

70 Dylan Judy

74 Javen Martin

80 Charlie Underhill

82 Braedon Patterson

84 Bryson McLemore