Faith Academy football loses to Leander Founders Classical
CAPTION: Faith Academy’s Hudson Tatum refuses to go down while protecting the football during the loss to Leander Founders Classical. Photos by Stennis Shotts
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team lost to Leander Founders Classical 42-16 Aug. 28.
The two teams played to a 0-0 tie in the first quarter, but the Archers led 16-0 at the half.
“The first half was just a grind offensively,” Flames head coach Jay Silvers said. “We had our opportunities. We had some dropped passes, we had a couple of penalties that weren’t called, one that cost us a touchdown. There was pass interference on Graham McGraw. They cut his legs out from underneath him when he had jumped up for the ball, and they cut him. He was kind in mid-air, the ball hit his hands, and they told me that it wasn’t catchable and so that hurt a little bit, it stings a little bit for the offense. The first half for us was frustrating especially with the way we usually move the ball.”
Faith (0-2) got on the scoreboard in the third period to trail 22-8 going into the final stanza.
Landon Silvers had 15 rushes for 106 yards and completed 10 of 21 passes for 118 yards and two scores. Hudson Tatum had five carries for 31 yards and three receptions for 45 yards, while McGraw had two receptions for 32 yards and a score and Ronin Burns had a 15-yard touchdown catch.
“Founders did a good job of just kind of containing Landon in the backfield,” the coach said. “We were still able to run the ball and he was still able to get yards and stuff, but it was kind of limited on when he could run and when he had to pass. The dropped passes really hurt us in this game. We had quite a few dropped passes, we had a few passes that were under thrown or overthrown and so our passing game wasn’t what it normally is, not really.”
Founders Classical generated 264 yards and four touchdowns from its rushing attack thanks 37 carries. In all the Archers generated 369 yards of total offense.
Caleb Bennett had 20 rushes for 146 yards and a score followed by Benson Walker with 57 yards on six carries and Cole Vicars’ 39 yards and a touchdown on six rushes and a 38-yard touchdown catch. All three are sophomores.
Senior quarterback William Norman completed 3 of 5 passes for 105 yards and two scores. Junior Micah Koepp had five rushes for 22 yards and two touchdowns and caught a seven-yard touchdown pass. Senior Blaise Tavarez had a 60-yard touchdown reception.
The Faith defense was led by Egan Barnes, who had 11 tackles with three assisted tackles and a fumble recovery, while Madden Kinnee had seven tackles with two assisted tackles, and Burns had four tackles with three assisted tackles and a fumble recovery.
“We got a couple things going and then we just made some mistakes on defense just being out of alignment, and they took advantage,” Silvers said. “I think three times we were out of line that they scored a touchdown. That’s hard when you take other people out of the play, and it makes it tough trying to limit what they can do.”
The coach pointed out the non-district schedule is tough because of what it’s designed to do, and he believes the Flames will be better for it.
“We want to challenge ourselves, and we want to make sure we’re ready for the district and then ready for playoffs,” he said. “We don’t want to be surprised going in to the playoffs because it’s going be top teams there, so we have to get used to it at some point.”
The Flames welcome San Marcos Academy at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4. The Bears lost to Fredericksburg Heritage 54-6 Aug. 28.
CAPTION: Faith defenders Ronin Burns (left), Egan Barnes (6) and Hudson Tatum (16) make a textbook tackle of Leander Founders Classical junior Micah Koepp.
