The Foundation Christian Academy football program took the next step, winning the eight-on-eight 2A football state championship, defeating Academy at the Lakes 34-0. The Panthers finished with a 9-3 record.
Foundation Christian Academy is a private school with a student population of around 120 who come from as far away as Lakeland, Riverview and Plant City. Some homeschool kids also play on the team. Because of their small size, their football program competes in eight-on-eight football with about 30 other schools in the Sunshine State Athletic Association. Eight-man football is just like tackle football but with three less players on the field. All the teams make the playoffs, competing in four separate brackets. Foundation Christian was put in the 2A bracket.
The team was led by second-year head coach Jeremy Shobe. He previously was the defensive coordinator of the Newsome High School football program. When Shobe came to Foundation Christian, the team had only been in existence for a couple of years, and they had an 0-18 record.
The Panthers were 2-10 in his first season and had a 9-3 turnaround this year and won a state title.
It was amazing,” said Shobe. “The kids, some of the students and parents and everybody kind of just ran out onto the field and joined the celebration with us, and it was just a big moment for the program.”
Shobe thinks that his team really focused in the offseason on conditioning plus they participated in spring football for the first time.
“The kids really bought in and committed over the summer,” said Shobe. “We started changing the culture slowly, and to go from 2-10 to 9-3 was a big moment for the kids, their families and the school. I told the kids that they were going to be a part of history, being the first team to raise a banner in the gym. You may never get another opportunity like this in your life, so let’s take advantage of it.”
Shobe said that his team played complementary football and was solid in all three phases of the game. It took a lot of endurance from his players because with eight-man football most of the players have to play offense and defense.
There are no seniors on this Panthers team, so they expect to be able to compete for a state championship again next year. They are currently trying to get approval for a junior high JV program.
“We want to be the top team in all of eight-man football,” said Shobe. “We want to be considered an established top program year-in and year-out. We want to get to the top and be able to sustain success and ultimately get closer to having an 11-man football program.”
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