Faith Academy gets first win of season over St. Gerard
JENNIFER FIERRO / STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team’s losing streak is over.
After seven consecutive losses dating to last season, the Flames (1-2 overall, Division III, District 3 of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools), earned a resounding 41-0 victory over San Antonio St. Gerard on Sept. 16.
The victory also is Stephen Shipley’s first as a head coach.
“We were pining for a win,” he said. “It’s good for the kids to have success.”
Faith got a solid performance from new starting quarterback Garrett Henderson, who threw for 115 yards and a touchdown and ran for 113 yards and two scores.
“He had a pretty good night,” Shipley said. “We established a run game and were pretty balanced. Roughly, we had 320 yards of total offense with probably 200 on the ground. It was almost a 50-50 balance — that’s what we needed to do.”
Though the offense relies on short passes that go for long yards, Shipley said the reason they were able to score as much as they did is because the run game was productive.
And Henderson is still learning the offense and when to tuck and run and when to throw, so Shipley was encouraged by what he saw from the youngster.
But the game can be defined by one special teams play thanks to junior Cameron Ellenberger, who also added a rushing touchdown.
Right before halftime, St. Gerard lined up to punt the ball. Ellenberger blocked the punt and recovered the ball in the end zone for a 21-0 Faith advantage at intermission.
Eli Oliver also had a rushing touchdown.
The coach took his cap off to the Flames defense that set the tone with the shutout, he said. In fact, the three units feed off of each other’s energy, Shipley said.
“It’s a lot easier on the defense when the offense scores,” he said. “The defense responded and got stops. In the second half, we didn’t let off the gas.” “
Even though they won, Shipley said there’s plenty they can improve.
“We still didn’t play a very clean game,” he said. “Obviously, we needed it before we go into district play. We’re happy with the win, but we still have a lot to improve on. We’re making progress.”
The Flames will enjoy a bye Sept. 23.
jfierro@thepicayune.com