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Faith Academy football takes on Austin Hyde Park

Faith Academy of Marble Falls junior lineman Tommy Pelham makes a tackle as senior Hunter Moreno prepares to assist. Photo by Paloma Ortiz

JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF

MARBLE FALLS — It’s another short week for the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team. But the Flames (0-2) are hoping for different results.

Faith will play Sept. 11 against the Austin Hyde Park junior varsity team at 11400 North Mo-Pac Expressway in Austin. Kickoff is 6 p.m.

Previously, the Flames did not practice Sept. 1 before its Week 2 game because of the Labor Day holiday.

“You can’t do much,” Faith head coach Russ Roberts said. “Two three-day weeks are tough to deal with. We as a staff have to line up what we plan on doing and try to be good at that.”

Hyde Park head coach Dean Campbell might take advantage of a Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools rule, Roberts said.

“He can play varsity boys in a JV game,” he said. “So we’re not 100 percent sure of what we’ll see.”

Regardless, this contest is more about the Flames, the coach said, and seeing more improvement overall.

Roberts said he was disappointed in the 64-14 loss to Iola on Sept. 5.

“Iola is a program that hasn’t been very good,” he said. “They’ve made tremendous headway. They have big boys and talented boys.”

One positive was the performance of Flames senior quarterback Magnum Burcham. Roberts said he was pleased to see him bounce back from turnovers, and his running ability added another dimension to the offense.

“He didn’t care how we moved the ball,” the coach said. “He became a running threat. That put the defense on unrest. It juices up our offense.”

He noted the Iola defensive linemen were bigger than the Flames, and their disruption had ripple effects on the offense.

After this week, the Flames have one more non-district contest left before starting Division III, District 3 play. So Roberts said solid performances are becoming crucial.

jfierro@thepicayune.com