Flames’ athleticism, defense big part of win, coach says
GEORGETOWN — The Faith Academy football team outscored Round Rock Christian 5-1 in a scrimmage at McMasters Athletic Complex on Aug. 12.
“We put almost the entire playbook on, so they haven’t had a lot of time to get a lot of reps at any one thing,” head coach Russ Roberts said. “So we made a lot of mistakes, but athleticism pulled us through. The first units were fairly well matched. We beat them 2-1. Our backups destroyed their backups, which makes me feel good. It shows we have good depth. And I think it opens up the possibility to having good competition, which will make us a lot better real quick.”
The Flames scored in a variety of ways with two rushing touchdowns and two passing. They averaged 8.3 yards a snap and totaled 425 yards on 51 plays.
“I think of the five touchdowns, four of them were long,” the Flames skipper said. “And by long I mean 30 or 40 yards or more. The reason for that is because we didn’t block very well. We had a hard time being real consistent.”
Round Rock averaged 3.3 yards a play for 174 yards off 44 plays.
The big worker was Seth McAnally, who had three carries for 132 yards.
“That was a little surprising,” Roberts said. “I expected him to come back better this year, but I didn’t expect him to be that much better. So that was very good.”
The Flames’ first drive in the live quarter is where they were the most dominant, picking up at least 7 yards play, he said.
“We were just faster or we just broke tackles and wouldn’t be tackled,” Roberts said. “The reason for that is because we didn’t block very well. We had a hard time being real consistent. We were just faster or we just broke tackles and wouldn’t be tackled.”
The coach complimented the defense, especially since it takes 15 yards to record a first down in six-man football.
“In six-man football, you’re not supposed to be able to do it, but I really hoped for a complete shutout,” Roberts said. “I think with just a little more effort, we could have done that.”
The Flames will play at Cherokee on Aug. 18 for a three-team scrimmage against Brownwood Christian and Cherokee. The scrimmage starts at 6 p.m.