Faith Academy moves football game up a day due to weather
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — Thunderstorms forecast for Oct. 30 have bumped up the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football game against Temple Central Texas Christian to Oct. 29.
The Flames travel to Temple for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. The stadium is located at 4141 W. FM 93.
Before the two varsities play, however, the junior high squads will take the field at 4 p.m. at the same location.
Flames head coach Randy Denton said the season comes down to the last two contests. Faith (1-7 overall, 1-3 Division III, District 3 of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) plays San Antonio John Paul II on Nov. 6.
“We’ve been talking to the kids for two weeks,” he said. “(The CTC contest is) a playoff game for us. From here on out, it’s a playoff game. We lose this week, the last game is basically meaningless other than just for pride.”
The Flames were off last week, so they’ve had two weeks to prepare for Central Texas Christian Temple.
CTC (3-4 overall, 2-2 in district) is led by senior dual-threat quarterback Luke Littlefield, who operates out of the zone read and uses play-action to set up the passing game.
“He’s fast,” Denton said. “When it comes to critical times, they pretty much snap it back to him and let him try to create and just outrun people. So we’ve obviously been working on a game plan for them. Hopefully, we’ll be ready for it.”
Littlefield is the Class 3A state silver medalist in the 100 meters in 11.28 seconds, 1/100ths of a second from a gold medal.
Denton said containing Littlefield is the top defensive priority.
Defensively, the Lions are also led by Littlefield at free safety as well as senior defensive end Nathan Dosa. Senior Jay Attal lines up at halfback and defensive back to complete the trio.
Denton believes CTC will put as many as nine players near the line of scrimmage with the aim of confusing blockers and senior quarterback Rich Coleman. The theme has been patience while attempting to complete quick passes for big gains to beat the blitz.
“They don’t have a lot of size,” Denton said of the Lions. “They try to run multiple fronts defensively. They’ll stack the box and spread it out just try to confuse you and find alleys to run through. They’ll bring pressure. They base their defense more on confusion and making you make mistakes rather than just brute strength.”
The Flames have enjoyed several days of solid practices, so Denton believes they’ll be ready for the Lions, even in a shortened week.
“I think in some instances, it may be a lot easier to win on the road,” he said. “The kids are less distracted. We get there earlier and get their heads on football a little bit sooner when we’re on the road.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com