Faith Academy football beats Wylie Prep for area title

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team beat Wylie Prep 83-36 Nov. 15 in the area round of the Division II playoffs of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. The game ended with around two minutes left in the third quarter.

It’s the Flames first playoff win since they beat Conroe Covenant Christian 32-18 in 2021.

The Flames (10-1, 3-0 District 3 champions) will face Beaumont Legacy Christian at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22, at Bryan Allen Academy. Legacy (7-3, 1-1 District 5 runner-up) crushed San Antonio Lutheran 47-0 Nov. 14.

Faith head coach head Jay Silver said winning his first playoff game as a head coach “felt good.”

“Especially with these seniors that I’ve had,” he said. “Since they were in the sixth grade I’ve coached them at Faith, in junior high and now in high school. It feels good to give them that victory. And this is the first step. We have three more steps left, and that’s what we’re hoping and praying for.”

Faith showed its might from the start.

The Flames recovered a fumble that set up the offense on the Patriots’ (6-5, 2-2 District 3 third) 37-yard line. They ran the ball the entire five-play drive culminating with a four-yard run by junior Wade Dillard. The two-point kick hit the right upright, but Faith led 6-0 with 7 minutes and 4 seconds left in the opening stanza.

Wylie Prep began moving the ball with a mix of runs and passes. But Faith senior Andrew Houy stepped in front of a pass and returned it for a touchdown, around 50 yards. The two-point kick was missed, but Faith led 12-0 with 5:02 remaining in the game.

Houy intercepted the Patriots’ next pass to set up the Flames on the Wylie Prep 17-yard line. Two plays later, Houy found senior Adam Merlick for a 17-yard touchdown. Sophomore Egan Barnes connected on the two-point kick for the 20-0 advantage with 4:40 left in the first period.

The Patriots got on the scoreboard when senior receiver Brandt Hancock caught a five-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Mitchell Murphree. The two-point kick was blocked, but the seven-play drive made it 20-6 with 2:45 left in the first quarter.

Merlick had a solid return to give the Flames first and goal on the Wylie Prep nine-yard line. Sophomore Landon Silvers made his way to pay dirt on a nine-yard run. The two-point kick was good for the 28-6 advantage with 2:28 remaining in the first period.

After a turnover on downs, Houy found Merlick in the left corner for a 34-yard strike and a 34-6 advantage early in the second quarter.

Murphree hit Hancock for the four-yard touchdown pass and the 34-14 score. The eight play drive went 55 yards that took 71 seconds to finish.

The Flames got the points back on a Houy 59-yard touchdown run for the 42-14 lead with 7:06 remaining in the half.

After another turnover on downs by the Patriots, Houy hit Merlick on the 11-yard touchdown pass to finish a four-play, 40-yard drive. Sophomore Nick Zarob passed to sophomore Ronin Burns for the 49-14 lead with 3:53 left in the second quarter.

The Patriots had a solid return to the Faith one-yard line. Murphree found Hancock for the touchdown to trim the deficit to 49-22 with 3:53 left in the half.

Faith needed four plays to finish a 60-yard drive highlighted by a 33-yard touchdown to sophomore Graham McGraw from Houy for the 57-22 advantage with 2:40 remaining in the second period.

The Patriots turned the ball over on downs again and the Flames scored again. This time, Houy called his own number for the 23-yard touchdown run to finish a 51-yard drive that took 63 seconds for the 65-22 lead.

But Wylie Prep scored on a long pass to trim the deficit to 65-30 at the half.

Jay Silvers said he and defensive coordinator Garrett Cole had several items they wanted adjusted. One was playing hard until the final whistle blows and then being stubborn enough not to let go of a Patriot until another Flame could assist with the tackle. Another was understanding and believing that playoff teams don’t give up and “layover and die.”

“It was a good talking point of always going to the last play,” he recalled saying. “You’re just going to have to dig deep on a lot of things and things are going to be hard. (The late score) I think also motivated the boys coming out of half time that ‘all right, we’re going to go take care of business and we’re not going to let this happen again,’ and so they did a great job.” 

Houy led the Flames on a two-play touchdown drive. He hit Merlick on a 30-yard pass and then made his way to the end zone from 30 yards out for the 71-30 lead with 9:23 left in the third quarter. The drive took 37 seconds to complete.

Murphree found Hancock for a 37-yard touchdown pass to cap a 51-yard drive in four plays. Faith junior Cooper Hansard blocked the extra point for the 71-36 advantage with 7:58 remaining in the third stanza.

Houy and Merlick needed only one play — a 52-yard pass — for the Flames’ next score and a 77-36 advantage with 7:58 left in the third quarter.

Wylie Prep began another methodical drive that started on its own 21 and reached the Faith 27-yard line. The threat ended when Faith junior Price Rosamond caught an interception on the Flames’ 20-yard line.

Seven plays later Dillard bullied his way into the end zone from three yards out to cap a seven-play, 60-yard drive to end the game.

Silvers commended Wylie Prep, pointing out the Patriots displayed in person what he saw on video.

“They’re a very, very good team,” he said. “They move the ball really well through the air. We haven’t faced a whole lot of air attacks this year and so it took us a little while to adjust and get our guys in spots. It’s just a lot of good learning for our defensive guys to be able to make those in-game adjustments and we’re proud of our boys being able to compete with them.”

The Patriots had about 250 yards of total offense with no more than 30 yards coming from running the football.

Houy had eight tackles, two interceptions with one he returned for a touchdown and a fumble recovery. Sophomore Madden Kinnee had seven tackles, Merlick had four tackles and forced a fumble, Rosemond had five tackles and an interception, Jackson Henry had two tackles and Hansard blocked 2 two-point kicks.

As a team, the Flames had 520 yards of total offense with 20 rushes for 199 yards and six scores and completed 13 of 14 passes for 294 yards and five touchdowns.

“I think for us being able to do both so well really puts teams at kind of a predicament,” Silver said. “What do you hang your hat on? Do you think we’re going to throw deep, which we do quite a bit, or do we try to get the runs? And Andrew’s so good at reading right now. And we’re just hoping to pull that and keep doing.”

Houy completed 12 of 14 passes for 186 yards and five touchdowns and had 10 rushes for 208 yards and three scores, while Merlick had seven catches for 153 yards and four touchdowns, and Dillard had four rushes for 15 yards and two scores, completed a five-yard pass, and had a 29-yard catch. McGraw had three catches for 69 yards and a touchdown, senior Sawyer Jones had a 25-yard reception, and Landon Silvers had six carries for 12 yards and a touchdown and a 15-yard reception.

“They had a fantastic night,” Silvers said. “Andrew is just Mr. Reliable. Not having Landon out there with them put the spotlight on him. And we know that Andrew can do that, but he’s not a selfish player. He wants everybody to be a part of it, and when he knows needs to take control, he’ll go out there and take control. And he did that. He basically said, ‘Just give me the ball and I’ll go take care of it, coach. I’ll throw it or run it.’ He did a fantastic job. All of them did a great job on a lot.” 

The missed two-point kicks, with three coming in the first half, allowed the game to continue through much of the third quarter.

“We just had trouble block,” the coach said. “That comes with more and more reps. They send a lot of guys up through the middle, and we just couldn’t get there quick enough. We just didn’t hold the line long enough. Those are the things we have to work on. I think we got half of our extra pointes that we kick. That’s not normal for us.”

While he noted the Flames have plenty to work on to get better, Silvers was happy to have another week of football.

“The boysd did a great job,” he said. “They play as a team. They are a big family. They stick up for one another, and they take pride in that. And so that’s been a blessing to have this year. It’s been a work in progress for them, but they bought into it. This is not a one-man show out here. We have to do this together. And so whether we win or lose, we’re going to do this as a family. I feel like we’re going to have to be gritty the rest of the time, and that’s fine with me.”