Faith Academy football hosting Ty Detmer-led St. Andrew’s
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — If the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team can only play one non-district game at home, the Flames couldn’t have asked for a better opponent.
Faith welcomes Austin St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, whose head coach is former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer. The game is 7:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at Pony Stadium on the Marble Falls Middle School campus, 2101 Mustang Drive.
The Detmers and Flames head coach Russ Roberts all call San Antonio home, and they have some of the same traits: toughness and being unafraid of hard work.
Called a Southwest Preparatory Conference independent, St. Andrew’s challenge is finding opponents. Coaches often schedule opponents in the Austin area, even if they’re members of the University Interscholastic League.
In three seasons, the Crusaders have won 10 games.
Both programs were hit hard by graduation, Roberts said. For the Flames, that means finding some consistency on both sides of the ball.
“We’re still moving forward, we’re trying to get the right formula,” he said. “I think we need to see improvement every time we step out on the field. And I’m looking for leaders.”
Roberts, who is entering his fourth year, had leaders each season. When a player gathered his teammates together to talk to them about trying to improve each day, his teammates chuckled at first because it was out of his character to do that. So Roberts told the players they needed to listen because it was coming from the heart.
“We need someone to step up and do that,” he said. “We have some kids moving in that direction.”
The other final element is bringing physicality to each play.
“(Among our opponents), we had the reputation of being one of the most physical teams in the Austin area,” Roberts said. “When all else failed, we were going to hit you.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com