Faith Academy football to face Hill Country Christian at home
CAPTION: Faith Academy runner Hudson Tatum follows the blocking of Cooper Hansard. The Flames leaned on their rushing attack when they traveled to play at Leander Founders Classical. Photo by Stennis Shotts
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team will meet San Marcos Hill Country Christian at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, on its Britton Field.
The Flames (0-2) are looking for their first win of the season, while the Rams will play in their first game of the season. The reason is because a severe line of thunderstorms last week forced officials to cancel the contest between Hill Country Christian and the New Braunfels Thunder.
The Rams’ speed comes from senior Andrew P. Davis, a standout sprinter whose specialty is the 400 meters.
Meanwhile Faith is looking to snap a three-game losing streak dating back to last season.
The last time Faith lost the first two games of the season was in 2024 when it played Pasenda First Baptist Christian 65-20 in the season opener on a neutral site and to Austin San Juan Diego 47-0. First Baptist Christian went on to win the state championship. Faith won the district title en route to finishing 5-7 with a loss to Lucas Christian Academy in its only playoff game that season.
This season the Flames lost to Waco Vanguard 78-57 Aug. 21 in a battle top 10 six-man Division I teams of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools and to Leander Founders Classical Academy 42-16 last week in a contest the Archers led 16-0 at the half and 22-8 in the third quarter before putting it away in the final stanza.
Flames head coach Jay Silvers characterized the first half against Founders Classical as frustrating because his offensive players had too many self-inflicted miscues that didn’t allow them to score such as dropped passes and balls that were underthrown and overthrown.
“When it becomes one dimensional for us, that makes it hard for us,” he said. “We had a dropped pass in the end zone on a fourth down that should have been pass interference, and nine times out 10, we’re going to catch that ball. It should have been a touchdown there. At that point, if we had those, it probably ends up a different game. In the second half we finally started connecting on some passes.”
Junior Landon Silvers found Graham McGraw in the back of the end zone and defensive lineman Ronin Burns, who is one of the taller Flames, went to offensive lineman. In six-man football, everybody is an eligible receiver, so the younger Silvers hit Burns.
“Nobody guarded him, and so he ran it up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown,” the coach said. “We’ve worked with him in the last couple of weeks, especially our tight package stuff, to be able to run the ball up the middle a little more. We have that play in there where we just release him underneath everything, and they never accounted for him.”
He also noted that the Faith defense allowed fewer points in week two that it did in the season opener.
“Saw a lot of good things on defense,” he said. “The offense kind of put them in some situations that were short field stuff, so it makes it a little tougher, but also for them to learn ‘hey, if you miss your assignment you’re going to get me in front of somebody else, and that opens up my gap for them to run through.” That’s what happened on a couple of them, and then just coverage breakdowns, getting caught looking in the backfield.”
No team wants to still be on the hunt for its first win after two weeks, including the Flames. Still, Jay Silvers pointed out the players and coaches are applying what they’ve learned and are working to improve.
“By the time we get to district, we should be in a good spot,” he said. “I hate losing. It’s something I don’t like, but I also know these games will help these boys get better down the season when I need them to be better.”
