The Faith Christian Academy Lions football team started conditioning and drills last week and as of right now, Lions second-year head coach Teron Jones is waiting to see how many players will compete for the team in 2012.

The Lions have several returning players but also have a number of new faces this season, including a face that isn’t altogether new - it just hasn’t been around the team recently. That “new” returning face will be the Lions’ new offensive coordinator, Jim McClelland Jr., who was the Lions head coach from 2008-09.

“I’ll be installing a pro-style offense for 8-man football,” McClelland said. “It should lead to positive results.”

And speaking of positive results, Jones believes he will field a good team that will have a lot more fun in 2012 as an independent team than it had in the last few seasons as part of the Independent Christian Schools of Georgia and Alabama Athletic Association (ICSGA).

“We felt it was time for a change and now was the best time to leave the ICSGA,” said Jones. “The administration and I talked about it and we came to the conclusion that we know enough schools to play an independent schedule this year.”

Both Jones and McClelland said that down the road, FCA may band together with other independent private schools and form a league or maybe even start their own league.

But as for now, the Lions will concentrate on trying to band together as a team to have fun and win a few games along the way in 2012.

“We have some potential this year. We’ll be doing what we always do -- teaching the basics and working from there,” Jones said. “I think once we get rolling, there will be guys who will emerge as team leaders and help us play great football.”

The Lions will build around returning offensive and defensive standout Corin Jones and rising freshman Cody Stahl, who’ll be ensconced at left defensive end. Other Lions who are projected to do well are basketball player Quendarious “Bingo” Williams, David Marks, newcomer Christian Laminack and junior varsity players Tristan Langkau and Ethan Spohn.

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SKIPSTONE HOSTS SCRIMMAGE: The Skipstone Academy Warriors will host Creekside Christian in a simulated scrimmage game today at Warriors Field at 7:30 p.m. Both teams will run offensive and defensive plays and Warriors head coach Dan Salvador will be watching his team intently.

“I want to see how well we execute on offense and if we can cover our responsibilities on defense,” Salvador said. “We need to be ready for our actual scrimmage game at Appling Christian on Aug. 10.”