Faith Academy football beats Valor North
CAPTION: Against Austin Valor North Sept. 5, Faith Academy senior Andrew Houy came up with touchdowns in just about every way a football player can score. Photo by Stennis Shotts
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team crushed Austin Valor North 83-13 Sept. 5 in the Flames’ home opener.
The Flames (2-0) needed only two quarters or 20 minutes of game time for the victory.
“Our offense was only on the field for four minutes and we scored 63 points,” head coach Jay Silvers said. “It’s a great start to the season.”
Faith took a 46-0 lead in the first quarter. Sophomore Landon Silvers got the scoring going on a 25-yard rushing touchdown. Egan Barnes added the two-point kick.
Sophomore Madden Kinnee returned an interception 26 yards for the touchdown for the 14-0 advantage.
Senior Andrew Houy found sophomore Graham McGraw on a 20-yard touchdown pass. Junior Wade Dillard scored on a six-yard run, Silvers added a 25-yard rushing touchdown, and Houy scored on a 14-yard scamper. All two-point kicks were made by Barnes except the last attempt of the first quarter. Ben Strmiska converted on the attempt.
Sawyer Jones caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Houy. Silvers found Kinnee on a 59-yard touchdown pass to make it 62-0.
After that coaches pulled their starters to give reserves some reps.
“We put our young guys in,” Jay Silvers said. “We wanted to give them the opportunity to get some playing time. We felt ‘let’s let them get in there.’ We kept one starter out there to get everybody lined up. We let them learn. I only ran my first team offense and defense completely in the first quarter.”
Houy scored on an 80-yard kickoff return and Adam Merlick added a 55-yard kickoff return. Landon Silvers found sophomore Nick Zarob on a 20-yard passing touchdown and Barnes hit sophomore Ronin Burns on a three-yard passing touchdown for the final score.
Valor, which is in its second year as a varsity program, scored on seven-yard and 10-yard runs.
With the big lead, Jay Silvers, who also serves as the offensive coordinator, decided to move some of the Flames to different spots. Typically, his son, Landon, is “our normal deep guy” to utilize his speed as a runner. But by flipping Landon and Adam Merlick and Houy, who excels at both running and passing, the Flames didn’t miss a beat offensively.
Landon Silvers had 4 rushes for 62 yards and two touchdowns and completed 4 of 4 passes for 119 yards and two scores. Houy had 3 rushes for 9 yards and a score and completed both of his passes for 27 yards and two touchdowns.
Dillard had a six-yard rushing touchdown. Zarob had two receptions for 54 yards and a score, Kinnee caught a 59-yard passing touchdown, McGraw had a 20-yard touchdown reception, and Sawyer had a seven-yard touchdown catch.
The Flames had 223 yards of total offense. What Jay Silvers and defensive coordinator Garrett Cole saw in two quarters illustrates a lot about this team.
“We can execute, we can get our stuff done,” Jay Silvers said. “We looked better in our blocking schemes and our special teams.”
Defensively, junior Price Rosemond, sophomore Quinton Merlick and Houy each had three tackles, McGraw recovered a fumble, junior Cooper Hansard caught an interception, and Kinnee scored on a 26-yard interception.
“We played a good opponent (a 52-41 win against Sugar Land Logos Prep) the first game,” Jay Silvers said. “It’s a testament to our toughness and perseverance. They’re young. We’re going to come out and execute and finish strong. We wanted to make sure we executed. We feel comfortable going into this week.”
Faith welcomes Fredericksburg Heritage (2-0) at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, at Britton Field. The Eagles beat San Marcos Academy 53-6 and The Christian School at Castle Hills in San Antonio 54-36.
