HOUSTON - What a difference a year can make.
At this time last season, Fort Bend Christian Academy wasn't getting ready for its regular season finale against Westbury Christian.
Instead, the Eagles' season was already finished, having to forfeit the final two games because they couldn't field a football team.
A year later, new head coach and with it a new energy around the program - which went from 15 to 40-plus players on the roster - Fort Bend Christian Academy will play the regular season finale this Friday. And with a win over Westbury Christian, the Eagles head to the 2019 playoffs as a No. 4 seed.
"I think it's huge for this school, in all honestly, last year was the death penalty for us," Fort Bend Christian Academy coach Jordan Black said. "Just re-energizing the school, getting guys interested in football again, teaching the guys to compete, that's the hump we've got to get over. Once we do, I think we'll be a force in the district."
FULL PHOTO GALLERY FROM FBCA vs SECOND BAPTIST SCHOOL GAME CLICK HERE
Heading into this season, Fort Bend Christian Academy was coming off a 1-7 season.
The first goal, of course was to finish the full 10-game slate this year and on top of that collect some more wins. The Eagles have done just that, matching their win total from a year ago with a 53-52 overtime victory against Brazos and then getting wins against Tomball Christian Homeschool, Village School and Cypress Christian to move to 4-4.
The school and community have taken notice.
"It was hard getting anybody in the stands last year and now we've got a student body that's excited about it," Black said. "We've got people at our games, which is great. Parents seemed to be excited, so the atmosphere at school has been a lot different than its been in the past. But at the same time we've got a long way to go."
