In the beginning, the Maryland Christian Saints were woeful. They had no field, hardly any equipment and barely enough players. They won one game and lost 10, and most of the games were blowouts, in which the Saints were overrun by more powerful teams.
What a difference four years makes.
Last year, the Saints - a high school football team made up of home-schooled boys, most of them from Harford County - won six games and lost five, and won their league championship. On Aug. 30, they played their first game on their new home field, beating Elkton Christian Academy 29 to 26.
The Saints now have enough players to form a junior varsity team, and last year they introduced their own squad of cheerleaders (21 home-schooled girls).
The main architects of the Saints are David Arenz and his wife, Brenda.
In 2005, they decided to start a high school team, in part so their home-schooled son, Matt, could play varsity football. He had played youth football and loved it, but in Maryland, home-schooled kids generally aren't allowed to join regular high school teams.
"There was no opportunity for home-schooled boys to play football," David Arenz said.
So the couple decided to start a team. The first year, they had 18 players, fewer than half what a typical high school team has.
Many of the players had never played organized football before and didn't know the basics of tackling and blocking. The team lost one game 70-0, and was shut out in several others. Because a full offense and defense requires 22 players, Arenz and the other coaches had to help during practice. (They didn't wear uniforms or get tackled, but they did have to scamper around as best they could.)
One afternoon last week, David Arenz stood in a light rain on the practice field at Beachmont Christian Ministries campus in Kingsville and talked about the differences between then and now.
As he watched a group of linemen slam their shoulder pads into a blocking machine, Arenz saw progress.
"They're really exploding into it, really driving. Keeping their feet moving."
Four years ago, he said, the level of aggression was much lower.
He pointed to Mike Carlton, a squat senior lineman who'd been with the team since 2006. "He had never played before," Arenz said. "He was excited, but he had no skill. He didn't know what to do." In his first year, Carlton didn't play much. This year, he's a starter.
