ScoutSouth.com Stars of Alabama Week 4

From staff reports
Published: Saturday, September 25, 2008

The first three weeks of the 2008 season served up some eye-popping performances, and it did not change this week. With almost half the regular season in the books, ScoutSouth.com presents Week 4 Stars of Alabama.

Matt Sandlin
6-4, 205 pounds
Junior Quarterback

Brandon Gottfried
6-5, 210 pounds
Junior Wide Receiver
American Christian Academy

Sandlin completed 16-of-22 passing attempts for 322 yards and three touchdowns, no interceptions. He also ran the ball three times for 19 yards.

Gottfried was the recipient of four of those passes for 121 yards with an average 30.25 yards per catch. He also scored a touchdown.

Third-ranked American Christian is leaving no doubt about their dominance over their region 4 opponents. They are undefeated and unchallenged, defeating their opponents 143 to 27, thus far. They handed 11th-ranked Isabella their first loss of the year in dramatic 49-7 fashion.

The Patriots will give their opponents a rest this week while they ready for their next region game against Hale County at home the following week.

American Christian Assaults Isabella

By Stephen Dawkins (Contact) | Clanton Advertiser
Published Saturday, September 20, 2008

ISABELLA — Class 2A No. 3 American Christian Academy on Friday night displayed an offense that was too powerful for homestanding Isabella in a 49-7 win.

The Patriots (4-0) racked up 584 yards of total offense. Quarterback Matt Sandlin completed 15 passes in 24 attempts for 325 yards and four touchdowns.

Isabella played sloppy to begin the game. In their first possession, the Mustangs (3-1) lost two yards on a running play, had five yards stepped off because of a penalty, called a timeout to get the correct personnel in the game, threw an incompletion, completed a pass back to the original line of scrimmage then punted.

ACA’s Daniel O’Quinn scored from the four on his team’s first possession.

Norman Craig gave the hosts some momentum when he returned the kickoff after ACA’s second score from the goal line to the visitors’ 48-yard line.

But the first snap was fumbled, and Isabella couldn’t muster a first down – the Mustangs didn’t turn in one of those until the final play of the first quarter.

The Mustangs scored when Edwards connected with Sean Haigler on a 22-yard strike with 1:11 remaining on the game clock.

Edwards completed eight of 18 passes on the night for 58 yards and a touchdown. Craig led the Isabella ground attack as he rushed six times for 45 yards.

Blake Lawley posted 11 tackles and a sack, and Craig had seven tackles.

Patriot Offense Overwhelms Isabella

ISABELLA | American Christian Academy quarterback Matt Sandlin threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns as the Patriots overwhelmed Isabella 49-7 on Friday in a Class 2A, Region 4 game.

Sandlin completed 16 of 23 passes with no interceptions.

He threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Steadman Shealy, a 32-yarder to Parker Barrineau and a 56-yarder to Brandon Gottfried.

Gottfried had four receptions for 121 yards. Barriner had four catches for 61 yards. Shealy caught three passes for 72 yards.

Daniel O’Quinn started the scoring for the Patriots with a 1-yard run. O’Quinn rushed for 101 yards on 13 carries.

Harrison Pollard scored on a 27-yard run. Mason Hallman scored on a 12-yard run, and Tyler Hughes had an 18-yard touchdown run.

Isabella (3-1, 2-1) got its touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard pass from Ralph Edwards to Michael Green.

Trey Conley led the ACA defense with 10 tackles and an interception. James Sandlin caused three forced fumbles and added 9 solo tackles.

ScoutSouth.com Star of Alabama Week 3

From staff reports
Published: Saturday, September 18, 2008

The third week of the 2008 season is in the books. ScoutSouth.com selects the Stars of Alabama for top performances in Week 3 of high school football.

Matt Sandlin
6-4, 205 pounds
Junior Quarterback
American Christian Academy

Matt Sandlin, , quarterback, American Christian Academy, completed completed 14 of 17 pass attempts for 228 yards and ran for two touchdowns. He also added another two touchdowns displaying a powerful offensive showing, putting up 464 yards of total offense.

Shades Mountain Shot Down by ACA Patriots

C.W. Mardis, September 14, 2008 3:03 p.m.

The American Christian Patriots played like the #3 ranked team in 2A football by putting up 470 yards of total offense and holding ShadesMountain to 13 points defensively.

ACA quarterback Matt Sandlin passed for 228 passing yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots opened their first offensive drive on the Shades Mountain 2 after a blocked punt. Sandlin scored on a 4-yard run out to make it a quick 7-0 game.

The Eagles responded on their next possession with a 47-yard pass by David Reeves to Tyler Bishop. However, on the next play, Shades Mountain Christian fumbled a high snap and the Patriots recovered.

The Patriots drove 47 yards and scored on a Sandlin 7-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gottfried. Late in the first quarter, another bad Shades Mountain Christian snap went out the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety and making it a 16-0 game.

Sandlin passed to Parker Barrineau for an 28-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter that gave ACA a 29 – 0 halftime advantage.

ShadesMountain freshman tailback Sean Mardis provided some impressive offensive fireworks for the Eagles in the second half. Mardis broke lose for a 68 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He later added a dazzling 72 yard touchdown run after breaking three tackles. The ShadesMountain freshman finished with 151 yards rushing on 11 carries and two touchdowns.

Offense sparks ACA past Eagles

By Caroline Gwaltney, Special to The Tuscaloosa News
Published: Friday, September 12, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 12:42 a.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Junior quarterback Matt Sandlin ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the American Christian Academy Patriots used a dominating offensive attack to defeat Shades Mountain Christian 41-13 on Friday night.

The 3-0 Patriots continued to display a powerful offensive showing, putting up 464 yards of total offense with three different quarterbacks against the Eagles.

Sandlin had 263 passing yards, completing 13 of his 17 pass attempts, while senior Harrison Pollard added 53 combined rushing and pass yards along with a touchdown. Freshman Austin Grammer contributed 89 passing yards, completing 6 of 11 attempts. All three quarterbacks were without interceptions.

“I thought we had a lot of kids that played pretty well tonight,” ACA coach Stephen Hooks said. “I always am proud when the younger guys have an opportunity to play and are still able to execute.”

The Patriots opened their first offensive drive on the Shades Mountain 2 after a blocked punt was recovered by ACA’s Matt Leddo. Sandlin scored on a 2-yard run out to make it a quick 7-0 game.

The Eagles responded on their next possession with a 47-yard pass by David Reeves to Tyler Bishop. But on the next play, Shades Mountain Christian fumbled a bad snap and junior Jarrett Hall recovered the ball for the Patriots.

The Patriots drove a quick 47 yards and scored on a Sandlin 5-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gottfried.

Late in the first quarter, another bad Shades Mountain Chrsitian snap went out the back of the end zone, resulting in a safety and making it a 16-0 game.

A Patriots drive late in the first quarter set up a 12-yard touchdown for Daniel O’Quinn on the first play of the second quarter.

Later in the second quarter during a critical fourth-down play, Sandlin found himself scrambling deep in the pocket with four Eagles defenders chasing him down. Sandlin found freshman Parker Barrineau in the end zone to complete the 32-yard touchdown pass. Barrineau also caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Grammer in the third quarter.

The only big moments for the Eagles came in the third quarter when freshman tailback Sean Mardis broke lose for touchdown runs of 68 and a 72 yards.

Acting head coach Jonathan Loudermilk said he was proud of the team, given an adverse situation. Loudermilk would not comment on why the team’s regular head coach wasn’t at the game.

“They didn’t really know what to expect having me as a fill-in coach, but they handled themselves well,” he said. “Our defense played with passion and had a motive, and while the scoreboard may not reflect it, they were giving it everything they had.”

Despite the two big runs from the Eagles’ freshman, the ACA defense had a solid night, Hooks said.

“Any time you are ahead in the game, there’s a chance to have a break down,” he said. “Our defensive coaches have done an amazing job, and I see nothing we can’t correct.”

Leddo led the defensive efforts with six tackles, four assists and one blocked punt, while Connor McKenna had six tackles and five assists and James Sandlin had six tackles and four assists.

American Christian Academy will hit the road to square off with Isabella next Friday night.

ScoutSouth.com Star of Alabama Week 2

From staff reports
Published: Saturday, September 11, 2008

ScoutSouth.com selects the Stars of Alabama for top performances in Week 2 of high school football.

Matt Sandlin
6-4, 205 pounds
Junior Quarterback
American Christian Academy

Matt Sandlin, quarterback, American Christian Academy, completed 14-of-21 pass attempts for 220 yards and had three rushes for two touchdowns. Behind the arm and legs of Sandlin, ACA darted to a comfortable 28-0 halftime lead.

ACA Romps Thorsby

From staff reports
Published: Saturday, September 6, 2008 at 3:30 a.m.

THORSBY | Matt Sandlin completed 14 of 21 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown as the American Christian Academy Patriots pounded the Thorsby Rebels.

Behind the arm and legs of Sandlin, ACA darted to a comfortable 28-0 halftime lead. Sandlin threw a 7-yard touchdown pas to Mason Hallman and a 20-yard scoring pass to Brandon Gottfried. He also scored on an 8-yard run. Daniel O’Quinn added a 14-yard touchdown run for the Patriots.

In the fourth quarter, ACA scored four more times. Harrison Pollard had a 21-yard touchdown run, before throwing a 7-yard scoring pass to Gottfried. Austin Grammer then connected with Kyle Smelley on two touchdown passes.

Pollard led the Patriot defense with six tackles and three passes broken up. James Sandlin added six solos and two sacks. Derrick Miles and Kyle Sappington each had 1 sack.

Sandlin Athlete Foot ‘Athlete of the Week’

Matt Sandlin The Athlete Foot (taf) Alabama Athlete of the Week

Our Athlete of the Week is honored for their accomplishments on the gridiron/track/ballfield/court. Congratulations for staying one step ahead of the competition.

Matt Sandlin
American Christian Academy
ACA vs Aliceville

Matt Sandlin, the quarterback for the Patriots, had an impressive game, throwing for 284 yards with 12 completions on 16 attempts and 3 TD’s.