That drive to the playoffs, however, was derailed when Troy Christian beat the Eagles 34-12 in week six. The Eagles finished 9-1 and failed to earn that coveted berth.

Grove City Christian is hoping to avoid a similar letdown this season.

The Eagles enter Friday's game at home against Cincinnati Christian at 6-0 after avenging that defeat against Troy Christian 37-0 last Friday at Grove City Christian.

It is the program's first 6-0 start in school history.

"That means we're guaranteed a winning record no matter what happens," coach Clyde Lucas said. "We anticipated that and really thought we should be there. We'd be very disappointed if we weren't where we're at right now."

Cincinnati Christian enters the game at 1-5, with their lone win coming against Horizon Science Academy 61-18 on Sept. 11.

The Cougars dropped their third straight game last Friday, a 42-15 loss against Clark Montessori of Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Christian is averaging 28.3 points a game and allowing 41.2 a game.

"Cincinnati Christian is very big," Lucas said. "They're one of the bigger teams we're playing this year. They'll try to run the ball with those big boys up front. I'm not really concerned. Right now the team we have to be concerned with is Grove City Christian."

Three of the four remaining Eagles' regular season games will be played at Grove City Christian.

Grove City Christian is fourth in the Division VI Region 23 standings behind Malvern (6-0), New Philadelphia (5-1) and New Matamoras (5-1).

The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs.

"Making the playoffs would mean a lot," Grove City Christian senior quarterback Christopher Bowman said. "We struggled the first two years with a new program and finally put our name out there in the area. Making the playoffs would be a big thing for our school."

The Eagles are averaging 30.7 points a game and allowing an average of 7.8 a game with two shutouts.

Bowman has completed 40 of 67 passes for 620 yards and seven touchdowns, and rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries.

"Our defense is strong," Bowman said. "Offensively, the first couple of games we were still working the kinks out, but now we're a full go with our offense. We haven't had to pass a lot, but now we're trying to build up our passing game."

Senior Jesse Barns is again the team's top ground gainer. He has rushed for 625 yards and six touchdowns on 67 carries despite missing action with a knee injury.

Brice Bowman, Christopher's twin brother, has caught 18 passes for 426 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns.

The win against Troy Christian was highlighted by Jordan Keaton's 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the first in program history.

•The soccer team entered last Tuesday's MOCAL game against Tree of Life in contention for a share of the conference title.

The Eagles were 7-4-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

Madison Christian stood at 4-0 followed by Tree of Life (2-0-1) and Grove City Christian.

Madison Christian defeated Grove City Christian 6-1 on Sept. 8.

Grove City Christian will return to action today when it visits Gilead Christian.

Josh Slone, who scored a goal in the Eagles' 4-1 win against Madison Plains on Oct. 1, entered the week with a team-high 11 goals.

"Josh has been an amazing contributor away from the ball," Grove City Christian coach David Morrison said. "He's been an awesome distributor of the ball. He gains possession. He's a mental leader on our team. He has done exactly what we expected out of him."

Gabe Gutierrez scored two goals in the win.

•The volleyball team was 5-9 overall and 2-7 in the MOCAL before playing Columbus Academy last Monday.

The Eagles return to action today when they play host to Gilead Christian.

Coach Joe Bradford expects Gilead Christian to be the top-seeded team in the Division IV district tournament.

Through 12 matches, senior Aricka Clark led the team in kills (56), followed by juniors Natalie Howard (52) and Lindsey Eickel (35).

Junior Megan Keating had 113 assists.

Bradford also pointed to the strong play of sophomore Sara Stiffler, who was recently promoted from the junior varsity, as a key to the team's success.

At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Grove City Christian cross country, football and golf teams:

CROSS COUNTRY

Sept. 26 -- Boys: Finished 10th (259 points) behind first-place Pickerington North (32) in the Bengal Division race at the Tiger Invitational at Pickerington Central. Sam Miller finished second in 18 minutes, 16.18 seconds. Girls: Ran incomplete at Tiger Invitational. Katie Miller was 10th (23:01.51) in the Bengal Division.

Last Saturday -- Boys: Finished fifth (107) behind first-place Grandview Heights (41) in the Division III race at the Erin L. Nance Invitational at London High School. Sam Miller was fifth (17:32.47). Girls: Ran incomplete at London. Katie Miller was sixth (21.57.08).

Saturday -- At Ray Russell Invitational at Jonathan Alder

FOOTBALL

Last Friday -- Defeated Troy Christian 37-0

Friday -- Home vs. Cincinnati Christian

Of note: The Eagles are 6-0.

GOLF

Sept. 29 -- Finished 11th (406) behind first-place Columbus Academy (330) in the Division III sectional tournament at Pine Hill.

*MOCAL contest

At a glance

Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the Grove City Christian soccer and volleyball teams:

SOCCER

*Sept. 22 -- Def. Delaware Christian 2-1

Sept. 24 -- Def. Emmanuel Christian 6-2

Sept. 28 -- Lost to Granville Christian 3-0

Sept. 29 -- Tied West Jefferson 1-1

Oct. 1 -- Def. Madison Plains 4-1

*Last Tuesday -- Played Tree of Life

Today -- At Gilead Christian

Monday -- Home vs. Emmanuel Christian

*Tuesday -- Home vs. Northside Christian

Of note: The Eagles were 2-1 in the MOCAL and 7-4-1 overall before last Tuesday.

VOLLEYBALL

Sept. 22 -- Def. Horizon Science Academy 25-8, 25-10, 25-11

*Sept. 26 -- Lost to Delaware Christian 25-11, 25-19, 25-16

Sept. 28 -- Lost to Shekinah Christian 25-15, 25-20, 25-12

*Sept. 29 -- Lost to Madison Christian 25-10, 25-10, 25-8

Last Saturday -- Def. Whetstone 25-16, 25-19 and lost to Briggs 25-15, 18-25, 25-20 in a tri-match at Briggs

Last Monday -- Lost to Columbus Academy 28-26, 25-17, 25-17

*Last Tuesday -- Played Tree of Life

Today -- Home vs. Gilead Christian

Monday -- Home vs. Emmanuel Christian

*Tuesday -- Home vs. Fairfield Christian

Of note: The Eagles were 2-7 in the MOCAL and 5-9 overall before last Monday.

*MOCAL contest