Knights to host John Hancock in region action

The Bethlehem Christian Academy will return to the confines of Legion Field to face Region 1-A foe John Hancock Academy.

The Knights (1-4, 0-1) will face a struggling program in the JHA Rebels, who have been on the wrong side of several lopsided scores this fall.

“One thing we noticed about them is they run a double tight end set,” BCA coach Don Garmon said. “They also use an extra tackle and will overload one side of the football. They will run the dive play straight up the field for 5, 6, 7 yards a pop. That has been an area that concerns us going back to the Augusta Prep game. We have to be able to stop that play.”

The focus in practice this week will be to look at different personnel groupings as the Knights have several players banged up or out completely with injuries.

“John Hancock is a good football team,” said BCA offensive coordinator Lance Fendley. “They have some size, speed, and a veteran coach (Sid Kennedy). Defensively, they run an under front with three linebackers in the box. They try to force opponents to run outside. It will a good test for our offense which has a lot to prove.

One bright spot in last week’s contest was the play of the offensive line. Center Jared Martin, guards Austin Schwebel and Jacob Parker and tackles Griffin Wilson and Ben Morgan helped clear the way against David Emanuel.

Chandler Garmon had two touchdown passes to Niko Mailloux last week.

Defensively, Martin was praised for his play at nose tackle while Schewebel made several plays from his defensive tackle position.

“Defensively, we played pretty solid,” Garmon said. “They just got a couple of big plays on us.”

The Knights put as many as nine players in the box defensively had a “team effort” on that side of the ball, coaches said.

“We had a simple but a solid scheme,” Garmon said. “They just were able to make a couple of plays down the field.”