St. Mary’s Hall can’t slow down Faith in 34-14 victory
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — Only the rain slowed the Faith Academy Flames on Sept. 20.
The Flames (4-0) defeated St. Mary’s Hall of San Antonio 34-14 after the weather forced officials to move back the start time an hour later.
“We didn’t have a slow start,” Faith head coach Russ Roberts said. “We scored touchdowns the first time we touched the ball. We had to do everything twice, which makes it a whole lot more fun. We could have had close to 50 points.”
That’s because Faith had third-and-long several times, he said.
After St. Mary’s Hall took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Flames answered.
Faith sophomore running back Asa Ortiz scored on a touchdown run of 51 yards to tie the game at 7-7 with 11 minutes 51 seconds remaining in the first half. Sophomore Jonathan Reyes added the extra point.
The Flames took the lead when senior quarterback Austin Ellis threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Ortiz right before halftime for a 14-7 lead.
On the opening drive of the second half, Ellis ran 55 yards to the end zone for a 21-7 lead.
Then Ellis found junior Hanner Shipley for a 33-yard touchdown pass and catch.
Faith’s last touchdown came when junior running back Royale Brown hauled in a 34-yard pass from Shipley for a 34-7 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.
St. Mary’s Hall added a meaningless touchdown on the final play of the contest.
“They were going to try to outsmart us,” Roberts said. “We outhit them. They adjusted their defense to try to stop what they were doing. I think we outplayed them. Our players played harder than their players. We had receivers open, we had holes open.”
Ellis rushed 10 times for 104 yards and a touchdown and completed all three of his passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Sophomore running back Jacob Metcalf carried the ball 11 times for 107 yards, while Brown had 15 rushes for 105 yards. Shipley caught two passes for 63 yards and a touchdown and completed his only pass attempt for 34 yards and one touchdown.
The defense was led by freshman defensive back Dalton Mayberry and Heston Hand, who each had 11 tackles
During last year’s contest, former standout Brian Freeman was ejected, though video showed he shouldn’t have been, Roberts said.
So the players dedicated this season’s game to Freeman. And Roberts believes during the third-and-longs, the Flames thought of Freeman and found a way to keep drives going.
“The kids really wanted to win this game,” he said. “It was a significant win, it was a big win. When you have a win like that, you sit back and enjoy it.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com