SSAC on the move again with the addition and deletion of teams

Beginning its eleventh season, the Sunshine State Athletic Conference has seen its share of change over the years with the addition and deletion of numerous teams for the league that spreads out all over North and Central Florida.

The league, which currently sits at 25 teams, begins its eleventh season as healthy as ever despite all the attrition. Faith Christian, Harvest Community and most recently Duval Charter all dropped out of the league due to low numbers as all decided to drop to 8 man football until their roster grows higher than 17 kids.

What started out as a small eight team league ten years ago, has become far more than what anyone could have ever imagined.

A group of small Christian schools felt like they couldn’t compete against the schools they were paired with in their district and in 2008 created the Sunshine State Athletic Conference.

The original SSAC eight members were Mount Dora Bible, Ocala St John Lutheran, Leesburg First Academy, Foundation Academy, Hernando Christian, Bishop McLaughlin, St. Pete Canterbury and Carrolwood Day.

Christ’s Church coach Jim Stomps is looking forward to the new reformed First Coast Division with the addition of Cedar Creek Christian.

Every year since, the league has expanded and continues to expand, two years ago the league added Bishop Snyder, Out of Door Academy, Bradenton Christian, Shorecrest Prep and Fort Myers Canterbury.

The addition of the five teams increased the state’s biggest conference to 28 teams for the 2016 season as well as new divisions and a new developmental league too.

The SSAC was divided up into two separate leagues: the Coastal and Coral, within those leagues are three separate divisions: Central Florida, Beach, Atlantic in the Coastal League and North Florida, Orange and Bay in the Coral League.

Last year, Christ’s Church coach Jim Stomps announced more changes within the league starting with the creation of the First Coast Division as newcomers Harvest Community and Duval Charter joined members Christ’s Church and Bishop Snyder to form an all area division.

Which was good news for Stomps who was placed in the North Florida Division two years with Leesburg First Academy, Mount Dora Christian and Ocala Christian along with Bishop Snyder.

No more two hour plus bus rides to Leesburg, Ocala or Mount Dora and now short trips across the county to Harvest, Bishop Snyder and Duval Charter.

“I am excited to have an all-Jacksonville Division in the SSAC,” said Stomps. “This will cut down on travel and build close rivalries between divisional schools from this area.

Stomps when on to say, “I respect Coach Markoski (Bishop Snyder), Coach Marts (Harvest) and Coach Wiley (Duval Charter), they are all coaches who work hard and positively build their teams players through the game of football.

“I believe that they all are great additions to the Sunshine State Athletic Conference. It also brings coverage and promotion to the SSAC in the North Florida area having 4 teams in the Jacksonville area.”

Stomps again announced more changes to the SSAC this year as Cedar Creek Christian joins the First Coast Division to make it a three-team division. While it’s been known since over the summer that Harvest Community pulled out for this coming year as the program battles low numbers in the program and made the decision to drop to 8-man football until its numbers increase; Stomps also stated Duval Charter notified Christ Church Sunday it too was dropping to 8 man football for the upcoming season due to low numbers.

Florida-Bowl-Trophy_2 — The Florida Bowl trophy is at stake and awarded to the winner of the SSAC each year.

Instead of being a five team division the league will now be a three team division with Christ Church, Bishop Snyder and Cedar Creek. The top two teams will advance to the playoffs but a third could still earn a wild card berth, just like last year when Christ’s Church, Bishop Snyder and Harvest all earning playoff bids.

Stomps said with Faith Christian dropping out of the league also to move to 8 man football leaving only Masters Academy and Orlando Christian Prep in the Beach Division, the division will only be guaranteed one playoff spot instead of the automatic two spots.

Meaning the third place team in the First Coast Division and the Central Florida Division consisting of Central Florida Christian Academy, Lake Mary Prep, Orangewood Christian and Windermere Prep will be eligible for the wild card spots.

Stomps explained that the SSAC consists of two conferences the Coastal and Coral.

“There are 3 divisions in each with 16 total teams (8 from each side) making the playoffs and the winners of the Coastal and Coral Conferences will play for the SSAC Florida Independent State Championship Nov 17 at the Masters Academy,” Stomps stated.

Here is a rundown of the First Coast Division and what to expect from each team.

Bishop Snyder Cardinals
Coach: Travis Markoski
Record: 5-5
Key Players: Malik Fordham (Sr., LB), Pedro Velez (Jr., RB/LB), Josh Williams (So., QB), Trey Williams (Jr., DB), Ijon Richardson (So., DB), Allen Chavez (Jr., DT)
Newcomers: None
Schedule
Aug 25 Deltona Trinity
Aug 31 TBA
Sept 7 at Lake Mary Prep
Sept 14 at Cambridge Christian
Sept 21 Branford
Sept 28 at Christ’s Church *
Oct 5 Episcopal
Oct 11 Cedar Creek *
Oct 19 Maclay
Oct 26 SSAC Playoffs
Nov 2 SSAC Playoffs/Bowl Game
Nov 9 SSAC Semifinals
Nov 17 SSAC Title game
Outlook: A lot of momentum heading into the off season and this season for the Cardinals after a turning around the season in the latter part of the season good enough to earn a wildcard spot in the playoffs. With six starters back on offense and seven on defense, the Cardinals have plenty of experience back to make another playoff run. The road to the playoffs gets a little tougher though with the addition of Cedar Creek to the division. A huge part of the Cardinals success was the play of quarterback Christian Bailey, however Bailey decided to concentrate on basketball full time and now hands the offense over to Josh Williams. How well Williams runs the offense will go along way deciding how far Bishop Snyder goes.

Cedar Creek Saints
Coach: Jamie Gamel
Record: 3-7
Key Players: Jonathan Brazie (Jr., WR/DB), Isaiah Conner (Sr., OL/DL), Anthony Gross (Sr., OL/DL), Anthony Harper (Sr., OL/DL), Edward Berry (Sr., DL/OL), Kareem Mixson (Sr., RB/WR/LB), Dante Jackson (Sr., WR/DB), Zachary James (Jr., LB/TE), Michael Pough Jr. (Jr., RB/LB)
Newcomers: None
Schedule
Aug 24 St. Joseph
Aug 31 at Christ’s Church *
Sept 7 at Seven Rivers
Sept 14 TBA
Sept 21 Hilliard
Sept 28 Eagle’s View
Oct 5 Warner Christian
Oct 11 at Bishop Snyder
Oct 18 at Florida Deaf
Oct 26 SSAC Playoffs
Nov 2 SSAC Playoffs/Bowl Game
Nov 9 SSAC Semifinals
Nov 17 SSAC Title game
Outlook: After years of battling University Christian and North Florida Christian, Cedar Creek made the decision to move out of the FHSAA and into the Sunshine State Athletic Conference. The Saints struggled last season and were overwhelmed at times in Class 2A despite back-to-back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016, now the Saints are in the right league a league they can compete in right away and a play for a state title right away possibly. Gamel in his seventh year only returns two seniors as the bulk of the team is fairly a young team but still returns six starters on offense and seven on defense. Despite having such a young team don’t count out the Saints for a possible playoff run in their inaugural season. One player to keep an eye on is Mixson, a dynamic athlete that can do so many things for the Saints.

Christ Church HS Media Day 2018 https://t.co/KETxs2Qbts via @YouTube

— Duval Sports ™️ (@DuvalSports) August 4, 2018

Christ’s Church Eagles
Coach: Jim Stomps
Record: 6-3
Key Players: Jacob Reeves (Sr., DL), Jared Carwile (Sr., QB), Kole Keene (Sr., LB), Matt Jaroszeski (Jr., OL), Cadence Lampp (Jr., RB), Gabe Lindo (Jr., OL), Ben Anderson (Jr., QB/DB)
Newcomers: Hunter Hollis (So., WR)
Schedule
Aug 24 at Episcopal
Aug 31 Cedar Creek *
Sept 7 at Wewahitchka
Sept 14 Eagle’s View
Sept 21 at Cornerstone Christian
Sept 28 Bishop Snyder *
Oct 5 Masters Academy
Oct 12 Poinciana
Oct 19 OPEN
Oct 26 SSAC Playoffs
Nov 2 SSAC Playoffs/Bowl Game
Nov 9 SSAC Semifinals
Nov 17 SSAC Title game
Outlook: Since entering the league three years ago, Christ’s Church has been the model of consistency that others should follow. The Eagles have made the playoffs all three years and should be heavily favorites to repeat as divisional champs for the third straight year. Its no coincidence Stomps has been in charge all three years as well as he built a solid foundation and state title contender now. The Eagles were hit hard with graduation with only three starters back on offense and four on defense yet are still the favorites in the division. Stomps spread offense returns starter Carwile, who is being pushed by Anderson for the starting job, as well as key lineman Jaroszeski and Lindo. The 3-3-5 defense returns four year starter Reeves, who committed to Weber State, as well as Keene (114 tackles). Stomps is excited to see what Hollis can do in the offense, after returning to football after a year away, saying “he’s going to be our Wes Walker”.

Sunshine State Athletic Conference champions

2017	St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (10-0, 4-0)	St. Stephen’s 49	Windmere Prep 21
2016	St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (10-1, 8-0)	St. Stephen’s 21	St. Edward’s 14
2015	Santa Fe Catholic (11-0, 7-0)	Santa Fe 33	St. Stephen’s 0
2014	Windermere Prep (11-0, 5-0)	Windermere 48	Orlando Christian Prep 19
2013	First Academy (Leesburg) (8-2, 5-1)	First Academy 28	Orlando Christian Prep 20
2012	The Master’s Academy (7-3, 5-1)	The Master’s Academy 35	Seffner Christian 17
2011	Landmark Christian (11-2, 4-0)	Landmark Christian 40	Seven Rivers Christian 0
2010	St. Edward’s School (11-1, 6-0)	St. Edwards 47	St. John Lutheran 6
2009	Canterbury School of Florida (St. Pete) (9-1, 4-0)	Canterbury 48	St. John Lutheran 7
2008	Hernando Christian (10-0, 3-0)	Hernando Christian 22	Mount Dora Bible 6