Faith Academy football increasing numbers and excitement
Faith Academy of Marble Falls quarterbacks Rich Coleman (left) and Braden McBride throw passes to teammates.
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — While 25 players were participating in the first day of fall training camp Aug. 3 for the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team, new head coach Randy Denton said he was expecting more.
In fact, the Flames will be suiting up between 31 and 35 players this season, he said.
And getting at least that many athletes, according to Denton, who took over for longtime coach Russ Roberts, was “job number one.”
“We’ve increased by 10 the numbers,” he said. “Some of them are new; most are kids who are already on campus. There’s new energy pumped in by the volunteers. We’re trying to get excited.”
One of his tasks leading the team in his first season, he said, was to increase the roster and then get more people involved with the program. And that meant asking for more volunteers to help with gatherings, recruiting more students as trainers or managers or simply getting to know more students and asking them to consider playing for the Flames.
To increase the energy, Denton said the school has a new spirit squad and is bringing back the drum line. The football team will have new uniforms and helmet decals, he added.
The Flames will have a new starting quarterback this year. Backup Rich Coleman returns, and teammate Braden McBride also is taking snaps.
Both spent their summers getting better at the position. McBride attended the famed Manning Passing Academy’s Air It Out competition, which was started by father Archie Manning and sons Peyton and Eli. All three are quarterbacks. Archie Manning played for the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and Houston Oilers, while Peyton leads the Denver Broncos and Eli is a New York Giant.
Meanwhile, Coleman took lessons from former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer, who was a quarterback for Brigham Young University and in the NFL. Detmer is now the head coach of the Austin St. Andrew’s football team.
“I’d say Coleman is first in line, being a senior and being a leader,” Denton said.
jfierro@thepicayune.com