Flames’ postseason ends in loss against Sacred Heart
AUSTIN — A power running game propelled Hallettsville Sacred Heart to a 38-12 postseason victory against the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team Nov. 23.
The loss was the first of the season for the Flames (11-1) and ended their playoff run.
In all, the Indians racked up 334 yards on 43 rushes, and four of their five touchdowns were on the ground.
“It was not our best game, it was not our best effort,” Faith head coach Russ Roberts said. “I thought we played hard. We didn’t always play smart.”
Faith wouldn’t go quietly, not even when Sacred Heart raced to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter.
The Flames got on the scoreboard in the second quarter thanks to a nine-yard touchdown reception by senior Brian Freeman off a pass from senior Jason Byrd on fourth down. The 14-play drive took 6 minutes 25 seconds to complete and covered 51 yards. The two-point play was no good.
“I felt like if we were going to go down, I wanted to go down fighting,” Roberts said of the fourth-down call. “I wanted to go out playing as hard as we could.”
The Indians fumbled on their next series, and the Flames made them pay.
Faith completed a 70-yard drive in five plays that was highlighted by a 54-yard touchdown catch by junior Royale Brown from senior Jake Diamond to trim the deficit to 16-12.
But Sacred Heart junior running back Jonathan Vanek was simply too much. He scored his second touchdown, a one-yard run, with 2:16 remaining in the half to extend the lead to 24-12. He finished with 27 rushes for 259 yards and two touchdowns.
After forcing a Faith punt, the Indians fumbled the ball that the Flames recovered with 1:18 left in the half.
The Flames reached the Indians’ 12-yard line but fumbled to allow Sacred Heart to keep a 12-point advantage.
And that’s as close as Faith would get.
The Flames punted on their opening possession of the second half, while the Indians scored on theirs.
Then the Indians recovered a high kick that traveled 10 yards on a kickoff to get the ball back. They drove 37 yards in eight plays for the touchdown.
Faith fumble again and threw an interception that put the game out of its reach.
The Flames had 201 yards of total offense.
At halftime, Roberts said he told his players he believed giving up wasn’t the answer, no matter the score.
“You’ve gotten some breaks,” he told his team. “God smiled on us. I can’t help but think that he wants you to keep fighting.”
“And they did,” he said.