After last season’s battle, Faith Academy takes home-field advantage vs. St. Mary’s
[box]GAMETIME
Faith Academy Flames vs. St. Mary’s Hall of San Antonio
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20
WHERE: Pony Stadium, 1511 Pony Circle Drive in Marble Falls[/box]
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — The Faith Academy football team aims for its 14th consecutive regular-season victory when the Flames welcome St. Mary’s Hall of San Antonio at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20.
The game will be played at Pony Stadium on the Marble Falls Middle School campus, 1511 Pony Circle Drive. Faith defeated Austin Eastside Memorial 28-7 on Sept. 13 for its third win this season.
Last season, the Flames (3-0) escaped St. Mary’s (2-1) with a 28-20 victory.
“They’ll give us a better game,” Faith head coach Russ Roberts said. “We had a real battle with them last year.”
Indeed. One of the Flames was tossed out of the game because of an illegal hit. After reviewing the film, Roberts said it was determined the player was wrongly ejected. But it didn’t help Faith that night. Instead, another incident occurred that contributed to the outcome.
“It kind of corrected itself,” Roberts said. “We feel like the athletic stadium in San Antonio with San Antonio officials, it worked to their advantage.”
Faith was clinging to a one-possession lead and trying to run out the clock. Instead, St. Mary’s forced a punt to get one more opportunity. But St. Mary’s was penalized, so instead of having about two minutes, the team had 10 seconds.
“And instead of having the ball in relatively good scoring position, they were backed up,” Roberts said. “It all panned out, but it was a tough game.”
The Flames are bracing for another challenge, and the coach believes his players will take another step toward becoming a better team.
“We’re looking forward to getting it right this year,” he said. “We love playing in Marble Falls. St. Mary’s Hall has to come here. That’ll be a little bit of a help to us.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com