Game of the Week: Trion @ North Cobb Christian
Kennesaw, Ga - With his team trailing 23-20 late in the game on the road in Monticello , North Cobb Christian's Sharnard Banks did what students at the small Kennesaw private school do best- he gave back. Banks' 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown catapulted the Eagles to an unprecedented third straight win to start the season, and kept the fairytale run going for a school that had previously won only 24 games in their 12-year football history.
Banks and his teammates know how to keep success in perspective according to North Cobb Christian principal, Megan Strange.
"Sharnard might have made the big play last week, but he's just as likely to be the first one to reach out to a middle-schooler who might be feeling down about something," said Strange.
It's part of the school's focus on mission work and giving back to the community and the world as a whole. Over their high school careers, all NCCS upper school students are required to sign up for four "Spring Term" mission trips that can be local or global in scope. Strange says these opportunities set North Cobb Christian students apart, allowing them to build character as well as a strong academic and athletic résumés.
"We enjoy winning as much as anybody," Strange told High 5 Sports. "...but we strive for success because it gives us an opportunity to bring glory to God."
Friday night, the Eagles will match up with the Trion Bulldogs who share the same 3-0 record coming into the epic 6-A (Division A) High 5 Sports Game of the Week showdown at Jacob Dennis Field on the North Cobb Christian campus. Trion is expected to bring most of its population down for the 7:30 game, and Strange says she expects a rousing bunch of Eagles' fans to fill the home stands considering the recent excitement surrounding the football team's success. North Cobb Christian was named High 5 Sports Team of the Week for the first week of September, and head coach Mark Hollars has led the Eagles to early wins over traditional rivals Walker and St. Francis.
This week's task appears a bit more daunting knowing that Trion enters the game as the 9th-ranked team in the AJC Prep Football Poll; but NCCS knows a little bit about pulling the upset. The school engineered another record-setting effort- along with many Trion supporters- on the High 5 Sports Facebook poll, casting over 17-thousand votes to crush the competition for Game of the Week.
"In the morning announcements, we would ask the students if they had voted. My own 4th-grade daughter would get in the car and say, 'mom, do you know who's winning?'" Strange said.
We don't know who'll win on Friday night, but whoever it is will take home the Golden Hand Trophy presented by High 5 Sports reporter Bill Hartman after the game. You can tune in to The Big Show at 11 'O'clock for the hilites and post game interviews from Trion vs. North Cobb Christian.