Faith ends season with 63-12 loss to Schertz John Paul II
Faith Academy of Marble Falls senior kick returner Jonathan Reyes looks for blockers while running toward the end zone. Photo by Paloma Ortiz
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
SAN ANTONIO — The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team ended its season with a 63-12 loss to Schertz John Paul II on Nov. 6.
The Flames (1-9 overall, 1-6 in Division III, District 3 of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools), jumped out to a 12-0 lead early in the first quarter thanks to timely special teams plays.
Senior Jonathan Reyes took the opening kickoff to the Guardians’ 15-yard line, but a penalty brought it back 10 yards. Senior quarterback Rich Coleman ran to pay dirt from 35 yards out for the game’s first touchdown.
Schertz John Paul II (6-4, 3-3) mishandled the pooch kick that followed, and Faith recovered. As a result, senior Asa Ortiz scored on a two-yard run to make it 12-0.
“We wanted the ball, we wanted to start fast,” Flames head coach Randy Denton said. “We made a couple of plays.”
By the end of the first quarter, however, the Guardians led 14-12 and never looked back.
Denton said the Flames had poor field position throughout the remainder of the contest, which made it difficult on the offense.
“We had some drives that got inside their territory,” he said. “We had a couple of opportunities, but drives stalled out. Defensively, we didn’t play very well.”
The Flames are taking the week off before starting an offseason program, the coach said. During this time, he will give exit interviews to his players to get feedback and offer advice. He plans to give specific goals to each athlete to improve individual performances.
“Gaining weight for some of our smaller guys,” he said, “improving the bench press and the squat. For our returning wide receivers, to catch 1,000 balls a week. We’ll give them a goal they can quantify.”
While the 2015 season didn’t produce the wins the Flames wanted, Denton said he considers this an important year for the program. Just like when the class of 2014 helped the program transition from six-man football to 11-man, Denton believes the class of 2016 will be remembered for helping transition from a run-first offense to a throw-first and adjusting to a new defensive philosophy.
“Those guys did a great job of leading by example and doing things the right way,” he said.
jfierro@thepicayune.com