Faith Academy football beats San Antonio Lutheran
Photo by Stennis Shotts
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team scorched San Antonio Lutheran 58-8 Nov. 7 to win the Division II, District 4 title of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
The win means the Flames (9-1, 3-0) successfully defended their district title, No. 5 in the last six years.
“I’m glad we’re the district champions,” said head coach Jay Silvers, who is in his second year at the helm. “We finished up one goal. Now we’re going on to the next one. It feels good. We’re 6-0 (in the last two years) in district, so it’s good to get two distinct titles. And we’re not done yet. We have one more goal to finish out. And that’s what we’re pushing for.”
The Flames now turn their attention to Wylie Prep Academy (6-4, 2-2 Division II, District 3 third place) to begin the TAPPS playoffs at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Britton Field on the Faith campus.
Faith needed only two quarters to defeat Lutheran.
Sophomore Landon Silvers got the scoring going by returning a kickoff 67 yards for a touchdown. Senior Ben Strmiska added the two-point kick for the 8-0 lead.
Silvers scored on a 27-yard scamper for the 16-0 advantage still in the opening stanza.
Senior Andrew Houy added a 26-yard touchdown run. The kick was blocked, but Faith led 22-0 still in the first period.
Silvers added his third touchdown, this one on a 25-yard run and a 30-0 lead to end the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Flames went to the passing attack. Senior Adam Merlick caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Houy for the 38-0 advantage.
Houy then found sophomore Graham McGraw on a 29-yard touchdown pass for the 44-0 lead.
Lutheran (6-4, 1-2 runner-up) got on the board on a 17-yard pass on a trick play that included two forward passes officials missed to cut into the deficit 44-6.
But Landon Silvers got the score back immediately on another kickoff return, this one from 60 yards for the 50-8 lead.
The game ended when McGraw scored on a 24-yard scamper.
Landon Silvers had four rushes for 77 yards and two touchdowns and two kickoff returns that totaled 127 yards.
The coach said the Faith offense was balanced.
“We did a good job of getting the ball down the field on our passes,” he said. “Landon, Andrew and Graham ran the ball. They all did a great job running. Andrew is a runner and a passer. And he does a really good job of looking down the field first before he runs. And Landon is our fastest runner. So he gets after it and makes it hard on (the opponent). He’s deceptive in his speed, I think, on what you see on film versus what you see in real life. And we mix it up with other guys who are pretty quick and pretty fast. It’s hard for everybody to plan for what we do. They did a great job of protecting the ball and just ran it down their throats and got the scores.”
Jay Silvers was equally pleased with the Flames’ defense. He noted sophomore Madden Kinnee recovered a fumble and the Flames got another turnover on a kickoff.
“Our defense did a fantastic job shutting them down,” he said. “They covered the receivers well and made it hard for them to get passes and anything that they tried to run. The whole defense in general is doing a fantastic job. They’re trusting each other, communicating. Everybody is swarming to the ball when they go to make a tackle. That’s everybody out there.”
He noted how the quick scoring worked in unison with the Flames defense.
“If we can keep putting points on them, it demoralizes the other team,” he said. “Our offense is going so quick, maybe two or three plays and we’re already in the end zone. And then our defense does a great job coming back out and they may get four, five or six plays and they get a stop and then a turnover. And then they have to deal with our offense again and again. If (opponents) make a mistake or they lose a possession, then we make them pay for it.”
