There are probably a large majority of Orlando-area high school football fans who think it’s no big deal that Central Florida Christian Academy has gone undefeated (6-0) so far this season.
The Eagles accomplishments are often mocked by bigger schools. They play in the Sunshine State Athletic Association instead of the Florida High School Athletics Association. But what third-year coach Kevin Blackman and his players have accomplished should be lauded. CFCA’s achievements are quite impressive, and the Eagles aren’t done yet.
“It’s a blessing that we are able to get back into it and the big emphasis is doing it the right way and building this culture and now we are winning,” Blackman said. “Now it’s the standard.”
The school was placed on SSAA probation in 2023, when it became known to then coach Jeremy Campbell that one of the CFCA players, a former home-schooled student, had enrolled at Dr. Phillips while playing football for CFCA. Campbell self-reported the infraction, but the damage had been done.
The Eagles were 8-0 and preparing for the SSAA semifinals when Campbell self-reported. The SSAA stripped CFA of its eight victories and vacated its spot in the playoffs. Campbell resigned as head coach.
Blackman was named head coach at age 28 and he took on the task of rebuilding the program
“The first year-and-a-half was really about culture. We had gotten away from what we were doing before,” Blackman said. “We are a faith-based program and I felt like we got more into winning than into our culture. So when everything hit the fan, everybody left. There was nothing to hold onto.
“That first year, we had 14 eighth- and ninth-graders out of 22 kids. We knew it was going to be a rough year, but the mission was rebuilding our culture.”
The result during that first year of probation was an 0-6 record, but that wasn’t the focus. Blackman’s goal was building CFCA’s culture and doing it with a grassroots movement toward the future.
Central Florida Christian Academy’s eighth-grade quarterback Gavin Pritzkau is completing 61% of his passes and he has thrown for 1,293 yards and 17 touchdowns in leading the Eagles to a 6-0 record. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
“The mission was that when we got our team back together, they stayed together,” Blackman said. “I think (being 6-0) is a result of that. I have a lot of guys from that 0-6 team who are still here. We have 15 juniors, and most of them were ninth-graders when that happened.”
CFCA has 32 players on its roster this season, the largest number Blackman can remember having at the school. He has been a part of the program for eight years. It’s his third season as head coach.
He’s one of the youngest coaches in Central Florida at 30 years old. At 5-foot-6, Blackman even has to talk up to many of his players, but they all listen and they have bought in to a structure that Blackman is proud of.
“It was all about getting back to the basics here and what we believe in as a program, as being a faith-based program,” Blackman said.
He won’t tell you it has been an easy road by any means.
“It’s been a grind. That first year, I had to go back at the film after every game and ask myself, ‘Is it coaching? Is it the players? Is it a little bit of both?’ ” Blackman said. “But I had a great staff around me and my AD (Kyle Willis) has been very supportive, and he kind of guided me through it that first year.
“I was a young head coach (28), and I was thinking, no matter what, we’re gonna play anybody, but then I really saw it was more about teaching these kids. I had 14 kids that had never put on shoulder pads and helmets in their lives. Never.”
Central Florida Christian Academy freshman running back Jahmari Hammonds has rushed for 781 yards and 10 touchdowns in five games for the 6-0 Eagles this season. (Chris Hays/Orlando Sentinel)
Now they strap on their pads like veterans, and even the youngsters are helping pave the way. CFCA is led by precocious eighth-grade quarterback Gavin Pritzkau. Blackman was extremely happy to hear from the youngster this past summer when he let the coach know he had decided to attend CFCA.
“He has been a godsend. I could not have asked for a more mature, ready-to-go player and him being in the eighth grade is ridiculous,” Blackman said of Pritzkau. “It’s funny, I met Gavin maybe three years ago during book club.
“We started doing book club here my first year as head coach, with (local trainer) coach Lo Wood. It’s a mentorship and devotion that we do every Monday after practice. Gavin was just this short, little chubby quarterback, and I didn’t think anything of it.”
Now Pritzkau is guiding the Eagles offense, completing 61% or his passes for 1,293 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“Yeah, next thing I knew he was knocking on our door to come and play here,” Blackman said. “We didn’t have much of a relationship other than book club, and then he shows up one day saying, ‘Coach I want to come here and play football.’ It was a shock to us but I’m glad he’s here. He came at the right time.”
Pritzkau has been a regular among the local summer camp circuit. He is often seen working with high school varsity quarterbacks during camps despite his age. He is well developed and football savvy, and he’s loving life as an eight-grade starter.
“It’s so exciting and I’m happy that God gave me the ability to do this,” Pritzkau said. “It’s really great to be 6-0, and we were working toward this the whole offseason. I’ve worked my whole life for this.”
But Pritzkau isn’t the only one. The Eagles can also run the football with another youngster. Freshman Jahmari Hammonds has rushed for 781 yards and 10 touchdowns on 89 carries. He has done it all in just five games, missing one with an injury.
“He is one of the most respectful football players that has ever walked through these doors at CFCA,” Blackman said of Hammonds. “I tease him all the time because he walks through the hallways like a pastor with his shirt buttoned all the way to the top and his glasses on.
“But he can go from pastor to dawg in two seconds.”
The Eagles muster all of this offense despite their heaviest offensive lineman being all of 260 pounds.
The goal is 9-0 and then to make some noise in the SSAA playoffs, and the Eagles are well on their way.
“I’m not surprised. I got 30 guys here who showed up all summer every day at 6 a.m., in the weight room,” Blackman said. “This is the hardest-working group of guys. We set a goal of 9-0 because we believe it.”
Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.
