NationalHSFootball.com 
– Dallas Jackson, NationalHSFootball.com
The story of Elkton (Md.) Eastern Christian football is one of redemption.
It is the tale of a program exiled from Bear (Del.) Red Lion Christian in 2011 when it was alleged to have become an unwelcome focal point at the school. It had nearly all of its 2012 season vacated as opponents distanced themselves while prominent media depicted it as an virtual-campus-turned-football-factory, or as a band of high school mercenaries led by a self-serving financier.
Sills is a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com.
View his profile.
“I’ll be honest with you it was hard a few years ago,” Thomas said. “We had some very talented kids that would give it everything they had all week at practice but then there wasn’t a game to play on Friday and I knew it hurt them because it hurt me.
“The way it is now is so much better; it is more rewarding. To have games against the teams he have games against and the opportunity to play some teams that we are going to play really is a validation of what we have been through.”
Thomas was 1-9 at Red Lion in 2007. The team improved to 5-5 with an influx of talent in 2009. A loaded group of players won their first three games of 2012 as a team that was included in the preseason HSFB100 rankings before it was shut down as a result of the negative attention.
After being approved by the Maryland state association the team filled its schedule and went 9-3 in 2013 playing traditional programs like Madison (Fla.) Madison County, Jersey City (N.J.) St. Peter’s Prep, Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius, Lakewood (Ohio) St. Edward, and Baltimore (Md.) Calvert Hall, among others. It was a good enough season for a No. 9 finish in the Maryland/Washington D.C. rankings.
It has had its contracts renewed with St. Peter’s, St. Edward, Calvert Hall as well as Washington (D.C.) Friendship Collegiate and Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances Academy for the upcoming season.
Paramus (N.J.) Paramus Catholic and Goose Creek (S.C.) High has agreed to play in 2014 as well.
Thomas expects more teams to reach out going forward.
“I think people view us in a new light, the correct light, now,” he said. “We have a good football program with kids that are trying to get to college just like everyone else. They are learning what it takes to be college athletes right now.
“The travel, the demands in the weight room, and being a self-motivated individual that holds himself accountable are all part of what is happening here.”
Under the banner of Red Lion Christian Academy the program sent Eli Ankou to UCLA and Angelo Blackson to Auburn.
At Eastern Christian it has had Kenny Bigelow and Khaliel Rodgers go to USC; Jahmere Irvins-Sills to Mississippi State, Wendell Smallwood and Daikiel Shorts to West Virginia, Dhameer Bradley to Connecticut, and Isaiah Johnson to Syracuse.
With National Signing Day approaching the Class of 2014 features two players headed to Michigan in Freddy Canteen and Brandon Watson with Nieko Cramer to Tennessee, Jaime Herr to West Virginia, and Vashon Tucker as well as Michael Gaynor likely to sign somewhere.
Founder and financier David Sills IV said the goal is to get all of the players to the next level.
“We want to get every kid in our program a college scholarship, or even a way to get financial aid for Division III- or Division II-level schools,” he said.
“Ultimately we are trying to get kids off the street and improve their lives and that way they were built up. We try to give them a better situation. It’s really about education and college degrees. Then we try to preach to them that we want you to come back and help more of the kids.”
Thomas said that the circle is already forming.
The most recent Christmas break saw a lot of the alumni return to school.
Thomas thought a dinner for his current prospects mixed with his past success stories would bring the two groups together but he found that his introductions fell on deaf ears.
“They all already knew each other,” Thomas said with a laugh. “Here I was thinking I was going to tell these kids, ‘Hey, this is Kenny Bigelow,’ but they already connected on social media and have been getting tips and emailing each other back and forth.
“Kids want to be the next Kenny and the next Kahliel. They work in the weight room with that as their goal. We hope that it becomes a cycle of success that brings kids back every year and brings new kids into the system.”
Kenny Bigelow was a five-star prospect that only played three games as a senior.
Rivals.com profile.
Quarterback David Sills made waves as a seventh grader when he was offered — and committed — to USC. He is joined by Malachai Felder and Shamar Hardin who are both locks for FBS-level programs.
Dele Harding headlines the Class of 2016 and Stephan Zabie is drawing attention already for the Class of 2017.
They are far from the only players who will get scholarships.
The elder Sills said that with the success of the players comes those that try to tear down what is being built.
“The media can be fickle from time to time. We are kind of used to it,” he said. “When (my son) committed in the seventh grade there was a lot of positive and negative media attention; you just kind of get used to it.
“There is always going to be positive and negative, in anything. I just had a conversation with David about that, too. People can always find something wrong with him if they want to. They do it with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, everyone. When you’re dealing with the media you have to take the good with the bad. That is just the nature of being in the spotlight or the limelight, it is situational.”
Most of the attention that goes towards the elder Sills is negative. He played quarterback at Newark (Del.) High before he moved to cornerback at Virginia Military Academy.
In his professional life he became a wildly successful developer which has helped him to build facilities for both the Red Lion and Eastern Christian campuses.
He estimated that he has invested millions of dollars and insisted that he is not going to be a fly-by-night funder.
“I consider Eastern Christian Academy to be my lifetime ministry,” Sills said. “When David goes off to school I will continue on. When I retire from business I will continue on with ECA.”
Sills said that there was a celebration when Maryland granted approval for the school.
It was a turning point that he believes will ensure the success going forward.
“Yeah, we are thrilled to death,” Sills said. “Honestly it wasn’t a difficult process. Just a process. If you follow the instructions and do what you are supposed to do then they will sanction you. It is not a situation that anyone is going to make a decision whether or not you are sanctioned because it is very clear that there is a process and requirements; you give them all of the information that is required and then you are treated just like any other school.
“It was all very, very standard. For a school in Maryland there are things that you have to do: background checks on all teachers and coaches. Certifications, and the like, we didn’t have to go through anything different than anybody else.”
Now that everything is behind them the process of rebuilding their reputation and rebranding the program has begun.
It is something that Thomas did not expect but said the he is glad to be coming out of with optimism.
“I think it helped me and I know it helped (the kids),” he said. “There are maybe some more eyes on us because of the attention but that can be used as a teaching opportunity and a motivating tool.
“Kids know how to act in a hotel, they know how to pack their bags, they know that people are looking at them with a watchful eye. With our schedule it also means we are playing some of the best teams in the country and there are coaches watching them and seeing what they can do. It is an opportunity. That is what I tell them and I think that they understand it.”
The program is still growing and being defined. It is aligned with National Connections Academy as its educational partner.
The NCAA considers the affiliation one that is an approved, non-traditional provider. It does not limit participants from meeting requirements of NCAA eligibility.
Dele Harding may prove to be the next big star out of ECA.
Rivals.com profile.
Sills said the relationship is one that will continue.
“It was the problem for us at the beginning because the kids were technically enrolled in NCA and not Eastern Christian,” he said. “Now that we are certified we are the licensee but National Connections is still the education provider.
“It is something that works for everyone and will continue.”
What both Sills and Thomas expect to continue is interest in their growth.
Sills said that opportunities are increasing and he has no doubts that Eastern Christian will not only sustain but thrive.
Thomas said those beliefs put more pressure on him.
“My wife still loves me and my kids are growing strong,” he said. “But I joke that if the team had a better coach they would have been undefeated last year. We were within a few minutes of being undefeated and those situations come down on me.
“When we were ranked in the preseason kids printed it out and put up posters, that is the goal. We want to get back to that point and I don’t think anyone is making a secret about it. There are expectations here and we have worked hard to get to where we are but we are not done. We have been knocked down and have gotten back up.”
At the current count the program has picked itself up off the mat twice.
The potential exists for it to become the one throwing the punches going forward.
