“New” is the name of the game around Snook Christian Academy this fall.

Back to playing 11-man football after one year in the 8-man division, the Eagles are now gearing up for their first season in the Alabama High School Athletic Association following years playing under the banner of the Alabama Independent School Association.

But that isn’t all that’s new around the Snook Christian program this fall. Head coach Keith Smith and his team have been watching their first on-campus stadium being constructed throughout the offseason, and they are set to take the field for their first true “home” games during the campaign.

With so many positive changes happening, it’s hard not to feel the anticipation building for a program that is entering just its ninth season of competing in football.

“There’s a lot of excitement on the campus. This has been something that has been in the works for three years, and it’s taken a while to clear all the red tape and bring it to fruition,” Smith said. “It’s gonna be great, and that first game should be an unreal atmosphere.”

The Eagles’ inaugural home contest is slated for Friday, Sept. 4, against St. Luke’s Episcopal, while they will play their first true homecoming game against Bayshore Christian on Oct. 2.

In addition, the switch to the AHSAA has allowed Snook Christian to remain closer to home this fall. After having to make three trips of over four hours last year, Smith’s group now rarely has to venture further than two hours from home.

That aspect, in addition to the benefit of being immediately eligible for postseason play in the AHSAA, led the Eagles to make this change.

Of course, a potential downside of the division shift is the uptick in competition. Mobile Christian and Bayside Academy are just two of the stronger regional opponents that Snook Chrisitian will have to battle.

“It’s going to be a tough area for football, but our kids have embraced that and are excited about the challenge,” Smith said. “So we’ll just see where the chips fall.”

Continuing the trend of ‘new’ within the program, the Eagles are also set to field a handful of players who will be getting their first football experience this fall. In order to move back up to the 11-man classification, more bodies were needed, and some enthusiastic yet inexperienced individuals stepped to the plate.

“We have a lot of guys that are new and hadn’t been part of a team before,” senior tailback/linebacker Daillon Blake said. “So we’ve been trying to build that bond within the locker room and accept everyone.”

But while there have certainly been bumps in the road when it comes to getting the new guys up to speed, Blake and Snook Christian’s veterans have been more than willing to assist.

“The thing about football is, if you care about the sport, then you care about everyone who is involved in it,” Blake said. “So whether it’s teaching them plays, the game of football or whatever, I would talk to a lot of them after summer workouts.”

On top of building team chemistry, another offseason goal for the Eagles was to get stronger in the weight room. Smith and his staff tabbed the squad’s physicality as the area it needed to improve upon the most entering the fall.

“One of the biggest things we tried to do was focus on getting stronger, because that’s something that stood out these last several years, is that we would get pushed around,” Smith said. “So it’s been a big priority to hit the weights, and I think our kids worked really hard in the offseason.”

And according to Smith, the proof is in the pudding. The ninth-year head coach listed off multiple linemen who have bumped their max bench press up 40, 50 or even 60 pounds through the summer.

“We have such great kids with a lot of character,” Smith said. “They put their heart and soul into this, and I’m very appreciative of that.”

One of the players who exemplifies those traits the best is junior quarterback Aaron Ashley. A veteran of the program, Ashley began as a water boy for the team in seventh grade and has been by Smith’s side ever since.

And Ashley put forth his best season last year, as he threw for over 1,600 yards, ran for 700 and accounted for a whopping 37 total touchdowns. As a result, Smith is expecting big things out of his experienced signal-caller.

“He’s the one that makes us go at this point,” Smith said of his QB.

Having been around the program for so long, Ashley highlighted some of the past Eagles who have molded him into the player he is today. He listed off names like Roshad Harris, Kareem Harris, Robert Dunn and Philip Butts as Snook athletes who inspired him, and Ashley emphasized that Ethan Bettner is the former quarterback who truly took him under his wing.

Now, the torch has been passed to Ashley as he focuses on becoming that same leader for the younger guys in the program.

“I’ve tried to take on a role of being more vocal,” Ashley said. “Dallion [Blake] and I will be the leaders for sure, we’ll hold people accountable.”

Ashley’s supporting cast is full of guys who will play on both sides of the ball, with a handful lining up at both tailback and receiver. 

Blake is one of those athletes, as is junior Lukas Merchant, who has been labeled the fastest player on the team by his peers. The speedy target racked up 26 catches for over 600 yards last season and now enters his third season as a starter.

Sophomore Emmitt Arnold is expected to be another reliable weapon thanks to his smooth route-running, while backup quarterback Colton Givens will play at tight end. A rangy 6-foot-6 target, Givens’ father played for Keith and his legendary father Lester when they coached at Foley back in the day.

“He [Givens] can go up and get it,” Ashley said. “He’ll make a play when we need it.”

Sophomore Phenix Dicksey II is another slot option that Smith expects big things from.

Of course, Ashley will need time to get those players the ball, and the line blocking in front of him will have a new look this year. Starting center Orrie Huite is the veteran of the group as just a sophomore, and he’s had to spearhead the efforts to mesh new players with the returners up front.

“From a line standpoint, we have a lot of new guys this season,” Huite said. “So we were just trying to get their experience up and get them familiar with the team.”

Of those fresh faces, Huite tabbed sophomore Austin Morris as a breakout candidate along the line, citing his potential despite being new to the sport.

Most of the Eagles will line up on both sides of the ball, with Blake acting as the expected leader from his middle linebacker spot.

Lukas’ brother Kyler will play alongside Blake in the linebacking corps, with the latter emphasizing that he expects Kyler to become one of the best players Snook Christian has ever seen by the time his career is over.

And in the secondary, Blake said the same thing about Arnold’s abilities on the defensive side of the ball.

So all in all, the Eagles are focused on maintaining the upward trajectory their program has established in recent years, with a day-by-day mindset being at the core of what they do.

“We just want to build off of last season,” Huite said. “We’re steadily growing, so we want to keep improving one step at a time.”

And when it comes to Friday nights, Smith is hopeful that – regardless of the outcome – spectators will take note of how much passion his athletes play with.

“I hope fans will remember how hard these guys played,” Smith said. “If people can say that, then I can live with the results.”

The coach’s team certainly reflects that mindset, and with so much excitement building around the program, the players are focused on giving it their all throughout the fall.

“We will not give up, we just won’t,” Lukas Merchant said. “We will persevere, and I think that sums us up.”

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