The Meadowview Christian Trojans football host their season opener on Friday night against the Russell Christian Warriors at Wasden Field.

The last time these two teams faced each other they were playing 8-man football. That won’t be the case Friday night, as Meadowview has moved on to the Alabama Independent Schools Association (AISA).

The Trojans new head coach Bob Taylor arranged the move to the AISA this summer for football and the rest of Meadowview’s varsity sports programs. Meadowview also brought in coach David Shaw, since Taylor also serves as the school’s headmaster.

Taylor and Shaw have been working with the team throughout the summer to prepare them for 11-man football.

The Trojans had their first test this past weekend in a Jamboree game against Macon East. The Trojans lost the game, but they improved as the game progressed. In the second quarter, they made their first defensive stop, picked up a first down and finished a offensive series with a 24-yard touchdown run by Zack Duke.

“Last week was a tremendous learning experience for us to see what a good football team looks like,” Taylor said.

The Jamboree game didn’t count, but the matchup against the Warriors does. The transition from 8-man to 11-man doesn’t provide much scouting material to work from.

“We’ve had a better week at practice. The kids are continuing to improve,” Taylor said. “We’ve kind of prepared for a little bit of everything. As far as the kids go, they’re excited about it. It’s the first game that really counts.”

The Trojans had an injury last week to their starting center Jack Barnes during the Macon East game. Barnes will be a game-time decision, according to Taylor.

“We’re prepared for him to play, and we’re prepared for him not to play,” Taylor said.

Season openers are also exciting for the coaches.

“You can start to feel the butterflies kick up a bit,” he said. “If you don’t get those, then you don’t need to be coaching anymore. You get that excitement about going out there and seeing if they’re going to respond and continue to improve. But it’s exciting. That’s the reason you coach, to be a part of that.”