Whatever the score was by the final whistle in Friday’s road matchup against Sage Hill Lighting of Newport Beach, Trinity Classical Academy football coach Joe Visconti looked forward to the Knights’ first official game back in the eight-man division.
After the Knights fell on the road to the Lightning, 39-24, Visconti said although the team didn’t want to start the season in the loss column, the coach is optimistic about the rest of the season and potential he saw on Friday night.
“The energy was amazing. The boys were excited and they wanted to play the game as well as well as the coaching staff and see what the eight-man game brought to the table,” Visconti said in an interview with The Signal. “Once they got in the game, again, it comes back down to the same things, right? It’s all the football fundamentals that need to be done.”
Visconti said that the loss in the first game of the season was a great learning experience for him and his players as the Knights (0-1) saw what worked, and what didn’t.
Offensively, the Knights scored 24 points with a run-heavy offense led by the likes of sophomore Eric Clark.
Senior Ezra Bly tallied his name on the stat sheet with a touchdown of his own, and junior Aiden Visconti converted a 2-point conversion on offense for the Knights.
That’s what worked, but what didn’t work were the three fumbles Trinity’s offense produced in the loss. And it’s a point of emphasis coach Visconti said his team will work on throughout practice this week.
“Ball security No.1,” Visconti said on this week’s practice agenda. “That and blocking assignments and going back to the fundamentals … our skilled guys can really take control of the game, as they did last night, and there was some very encouraging plays from our boys that I definitely look back and say, man, I’m very proud of those boys.”
Trinity Classical Academy will look to bounce back Saturday and kick off their Heritage League season in a matchup against the Desert Christian Knights of Lancaster, who were narrowly defeated 50-44 by Maricopa on Friday.
“I can’t wait until Friday night comes again. We’re going to get ready and prepare but with a smaller roster,” Visconti said. “a lot of these kids played a lot of ways, and they learned a lot about themselves, so I’m real excited about that.”
The matchup between Trinity and Desert Christian is scheduled for kickoff at 6:30 p.m. at Lancaster High School.
