STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: Class 2A – Cambridge Christian vs. University Christian

Class 2A State Championship

Who: Cambridge Christian Lancers vs. University Christian Christians
When: Fri. Dec. 4, 1:07 PM ET
Where: Orlando Citrus Bowl
TV: Bright House Sports Network (Channel 47/1047 HD Tampa Bay/Central Florida); Cox Sports Television (Gainesville-Ocala 259/1259 HD; Panhandle: 319/1319 HD) For areas outside of Bright House Networks or Cox coverage areas, call your cable or satellite operator.
Online: BHSN Live (Fee required to watch)

Records

Cambridge: 12-0; University Christian: 10-3

Rankings

FloridaHSFootball.com: Cambridge Christian No. 3; University Christian No. 5
Associated Press: Cambridge Christian No. 1; University Christian NR

The Road To Orlando

Cambridge Christian: Defeated Northside Christian 19-14 (Regional Semifinals), Admiral Farragut 36-32 (Regional Finals), First Baptist 30-26 (State Semifinals)

University Christian: Defeated Maclay 59-6 (Regional Semifinals), North Florida Christian 38-30 (Regional Finals), Victory Christian 31-0 (State Semifinals)

The Coaches

Bob Dare, Cambridge Christian: Dare is in his seventh season as the head coach at Cambridge Christian and 28^th season overall as a head coach. Dare previously coached at Northside Christian in St. Petersburg in 1980 and a second stint from 1989 until 2007. Overall Dare’s record at Cambridge is 47-25 while having 166-119 overall career record.

David Penland III, University Christian: Penland is in his fifth season as the head coach at University Christian having previously lead the Christians to their seventh state championship in school history in 2012. Overall, Penland is 48-15 in his career as a head coach at University Christian.

Notes

University Christian will be going for their eight state championship in school history. … Cambridge Christian is on a 12 game win streak, the longest current win streak in Class 2A … Cambridge Christian has also played one less game than University Christian. … Another matchup of where both teams have dominant rushing games, while relying on the passing game in certain situations. … Cambridge Christian and University Christian have no common opponents from their schedule this season.

About Cambridge Christian

This Cambridge Christian’s first trip to the state playoffs and state championship game. … Cambridge Christian has defeated three ranked teams in a row in the playoffs. … The Lancers have outscored opponents 543-140 through the state semifinals. … Last loss for Cambridge Christian came to 2014 Class 2A state runner-up, Indians Rocks Christian in November of last year. … RB Andrew Cunningham and OT/DE Richard Gouriage have offers from multiple Division I FBS offers. … Coach Steve Ater played under Head Coach Bob Dare at Northside Christian. Ater’s sons Troy and Scott are current players for Cambridge Christian.

About University Christian

This is University Christian’s second state championship game appearance in four years. … University is 7-1 in overall appearances in state championship game appearances. … University Christian scored at 61 points per game in all three district games played this year. … University Christian two of three losses have come to either state champions or potential state champions in Brentwood Academy, Tennessee and Jacksonville Trinity Christian. … The Christians have outscored opponents 587-206 through the state semifinals. … University Christian has rushed for over 3,700 yards through the state semifinals with two players (Hussein Howe Jr. and Otis Anderson) that have rushed for over 1,000 yards this season. … Both Howe and Anderson hold multiple Division I FBS offers. University Christian has two sets of identical twins in Alex and Andrew Wilcox as well as Titus and Tyre Curry. … Head Coach David Penland III is a graduate of University Christian and his father David Jr. is the defensive coordinator. … David Penland Jr. has either played or coached in 6 of the 7 state championships that the Christians have won.

Inside The Numbers

A look at the leaders in eight different categories for each team coming into the game.

Cambridge Christian
Scoring: Andrew Cunningham – 180 points on 30 touchdowns.
Rushing: Andrew Cunningham – 1,315 yards, 24 touchdowns on 136 attemps
Passing: Jaylin Jackson – 85-140-5 for 1,325 yards, 17 touchdowns
Receiving: Caleb Young – 25 receptions for 369 yards, 4 touchdowns
Punting: Joshua Mendoza – 11 punts for 462 yards; Longest punt 56 yards
Kicking: Jacob Enns – 67 of 70 on PATs; 2 of 2 on FGs; Longest FG from 44 yards
Returns: J’Kobi Reddick – 11 punt returns for 144 yards; 10 kickoff returns for 304 yards; 5 interceptions for 77 yards.
Tackles: Scott Ater – 99 total tackles (64 unassisted, 35 assisted), 10 tackles for l9ss, 3.5 sacks

University Christian
Scoring: N/A
Rushing: Hussein Howe Jr. – 1,684 rushing, 12 touchdowns on 87 attempts
Passing: Clay Boyd – 53-86-4 for 796 yards, 13 touchdowns
Receiving: Conner Johnson – 16 receptions for 425, 6 touchdowns
Punting: N/A
Kicking: N/A
Returns: N/A
Tackles: N/A

Projected Starters

Cambridge Christian
Offense
TE No. 20 Zach Stein, 6-2, 175, Jr.
LT No. 75 Richard Gouriage, 6-5, 255, So.
LG No. 72 Riley Wood, 5-11, 230, Jr.
C No. 59 TJ Layman, 6-5, 240, Sr.
RG No. 74 Noah Day, 5-11, 240, Jr.
RT No. 70 Will Singleton, 5-11, 265, Jr.
RB No. 25 Andrew Cunningham, 6-0, 195, So.
QB No. 2 Jaylin Jackson, 5-10, 160, So.
WR No. 5 Caleb Young, 5-11, 170, So.
WR No. 21 Zach Froelich, 5-10, 155, Jr.
WR No. 7 J’Kobi Reddick, 5-9, 170, Jr.

Defense
DE No. 75 Richard Gouriage, 6-5, 255, So.
DT No. 74 Noah Day, 5-11, 240, Jr.
DT No. 70 Will Singleton, 5-11, 265, Jr.
DE No. 28 Matt McNichols, 5-10, 170, Sr.
LB No. 32 Aaron Pierre, 6-1, 190, Jr.
LB No. 30 Scott Ater, 6-0, 180, So.
LB No. 14 Aaron Racki, 5-9, 150, So.
LB No. 20 Zack Stein, 6’2, 175, Jr.
DB No. 7 J’Kobi Reddick, 5-9, 170, Jr.
DB No. 9 Derrick Powell, 5-10, 155, So.
S No. 5 Caleb Young, 5-11, 170, So.

Specialist
Kicker (Kickoffs, PATs, FGs): No. 87 Jacob Enns, 5-11, 240, Jr.
Punter: No. 11 Joshua Mendoza, 6-3, 175, Sr.
Holder: No. 5 Caleb Young, 5-11, 170, So.
Long Snapper: No. 59 TJ Layman, 6-5, 240, Sr.

University Christian
Offense
TE No. 30 Conner Johnson, 6-1, 235, Jr.
LT No. 63 Aaron Henry, 6-4, 270, Sr.
LG No. 51 Alex Wilcox, 6-0, 265, Jr.
C No. 70 Nick Robertson, 6-1, 275, So.
RG No. 54 Andrew Wilcox, 6-0, 265, Jr.
RT No. 52 Tysheem Myers, 6-1, 270, Sr.
WB No. 7 DJ Stubbs, 5-11, 180, Jr.
QB No. 12 Clay Boyd, 6-0, 175, So.
HB No. 2 Otis Anderson, 5-10, 180, Jr.
FB No. 6 Hussein Howe Jr., 5-11, 195, Sr.
FL No. 5 SuanPaul Nobles, 5-11, 180, Jr.

Defense
LE No. 65, Jonathan Smalls, 6-3, 250, Sr.
LT No. 17 MJ Marshal, 5-11, 215, Sr.
RT No. 77 Demarius Battes, 6-3, 300, So.
RE No. 11 Ryan Brooks, 6-2, 215, Sr.
LB No. 8 Titus Curry, 6-1, 230, Jr.
LB No. 9 Tyre Curry, 6-1, 235, Sr.
LB No. 3 Rachuan Mitchell, 5-11, 190, Sr.
LB No. 6 Hussein Howe, 5-11, 190, Sr.
DB No. 5 SaunPaul Nobles, 5-11, 180, Sr.
DB No. 2 Otis Anderson, 5-11, 180, Jr.
S No. 7 DJ Stubbs, 5-11, 180, Jr.

Specialist
Kicker (Kickoffs, PATs, FGs): No. 80 Paolo Golemi, 5-11, 150, Sr.
Punter: No. 30 Conner Johnson, 6-1, 235, Jr.
Holder: No. 12 Clay Boyd, 6-0, 175, So.
Long Snapper: No. 20 Kyle East, 5-10, 150, Jr.

How Each Team Can Win

Cambridge Christian: Dominate early, score early and put pressure on University Christian’s run game. If they can find ways to stop either Howe, Anderson or both and force the Christians into the passing game, then the Lancers could find themselves in a position to win it all.

University Christian: Make things unpredictable with different plays designed for both Howe and Anderson and being able to score often. If that happens, as well keeping Cambridge’s offense limited will allow the Christians to be able to win big to take the hardware back to Jacksonville.

Predicting the Champion

Three predictions from three different people. Predictions are from FloridaHSFootball.com Publisher Joshua Wilson, Senior Writer Corey Davis and expert forecaster Joe Pinkos who has correctly predicted over 80% of all the games in Florida once again this season.

Joshua Wilson: University Christian 42, Cambridge Christian 14
Corey Davis: University Christian 42, Cambridge Christian 10
Joe Pinkos: University Christian 7 over Cambridge Christian