- April 22, 2024
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There were nerves when Noah Maddox walked onto the field for the first time as a member of the Central Florida Christian Academy football team.
The score that night ended up being forgettable — the Eagles fell 31-24 to Zephyrhills Christian Academy despite outscoring the Warriors in the second half. But there was one moment the seventh-grader won’t forget. One simple play served as an introduction to one of the program’s most promising young players.
Standing back in the secondary, Noah Maddox — all 5-foot-6, 135 pounds of him — stood with cleats firmly rooted in the earth below him. Then, he made his move.
“Coach had me playing nickel, and he sent a nickel blitz on that play,” Noah Maddox said. “When he came down, the quarterback kind of fumbled that snap a little bit, and when I came out I knocked the ball out, and it went right into the hands of our outside rush. That was a really good feeling.”
That single play would be the realization of a dream for Noah Maddox.
Noah Maddox first started playing football when he was 7 years old, but it was the years leading up to that age that really helped him develop into a competitor, said Justin Maddox — Noah Maddox’s father.
“He’s always been special from the time he was young,” Justin Maddox said. “He started martial arts when he was 4 years old — he did Brazilian jiujitsu — and I think that has a big thing to do with his personality. It seems like the game is never too big for him, he doesn’t seem to get more nervous, and he seems to get more focused. … It’s really helped him shine in the opportunities he’s had so far.”
But when Noah Maddox began to take to the football field, it was easy to see that there was something clicking there, Justin Maddox said. On defense, Noah Maddox had a nose for the ball, while on offense, he would pick up three to four touchdowns a game.
A few years later, Noah Maddox was dominating on the Ocoee Bulldogs youth football team. This is where CFCA head football coach Jeremy Campbell comes into play.
“It was around this time last year, when he was playing for the Bulldogs — I knew he was special then,” Campbell said. “(With) them being on campus, I was able to see him firsthand, and I was able to work with some of those Bulldog coaches and give them some things to help develop Noah. Also, Noah is a part of our 7-on-7, and with his training — he trains all the time — he has been identified early as a kid who is passionate about this game.”
When Noah Maddox realized the 2020 youth football season wouldn’t happen, the decision was made — after talks with Campbell — to attend CFCA.
After years of playing youth football, everything was different at CFCA.
Varsity football was completely different from what he knew before.
“The first practice was just a surreal feeling,” Noah Maddox said. “Everybody is bigger, everybody is stronger, and everybody is faster, and the calls are coming in from the sideline.”
Something important also happened during that practice that caught Campbell’s attention as he watched.
“He’s small — he’s not great in stature, but he has a heart and a passion that is second to none,” Campbell said. “Our first day in pads, I had Noah playing Mike linebacker, and he stood Wilkerson up in the hole. Again, that was Day One, and Wilkerson said he wanted to take it easy. … But Noah, he stood in the paint with him, and at that point I knew he was going to help us.”
Originally, Campbell was going to have Noah Maddox just play on special teams, but that play sealed his place as a legitimate player for the Eagles. Campbell placed him in at linebacker and running back.
Since that first practice, Noah Maddox has made friends on the team and has quickly grasped the game, thanks to long hours of study and consistent work. Two to three days a week, he wakes at 5:30 a.m. just to work out in the weight room before school.
That work has paid off so far through the season. Noah Maddox has three fumble recoveries and two caused fumbles to go along with seven total tackles on defense. He also picked up the first touchdown of his high school career against First Academy-Leesburg.
There’s no telling how the rest of the season will go, but so far, it’s been everything he dreamed his first year of varsity ball would be.
“My playing time has wildly exceeded my expectations,” Noah Maddox said. “At the beginning of the season, I thought maybe I would get a few reps on special teams, but to be able to come out and actually get good, solid reps on offense and defense is amazing.”
