Faith football healed and ready for district opener vs. St. Joseph

Faith Academy of Marble Falls quarterback Garrett Henderson hands the ball to running back Cameron Ellenberger. The Flames open Division III District 4 of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools play on Sept. 30 against St. Joseph Catholic School in Bryan. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — Play starts in Division III District 4 of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, and the Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team is bracing for St. Joseph Catholic School’s very best Sept. 30.
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s athletic complex, 6044 Rye Loop in Bryan.
The Flames (1-2 overall) are entering the contest after a thorough 41-0 win against San Antonio’s St. Gerard Catholic High School on Sept. 16. The St. Joseph Eagles (1-4) are riding a three-game losing streak.
Since Faith was off last week, the team has had two weeks to prepare for St. Joseph.
Offensively, St. Joseph is led by junior quarterback John Navjar, who threw for 1,056 yards last season. In the offseason, he worked to improve his running skills to become a true dual threat in the Eagles’ spread offense.
“The quarterback puts the ball right on the money,” Faith head coach Stephen Shipley said. “He’ll line up in the shotgun and put one running back in the backfield.”
Defensively, the Eagles use a 4-3 alignment and rely on speed in multiple positions to make plays.
Other St. Joseph standouts include junior receiver and linebacker Logan Lipscomb, junior running back and safety Nick Dimarco, and senior lineman Cameron Cooper.
The biggest benefit of the bye week for the Flames, according to Shipley, was it allowed players to heal from bumps and bruises suffered in the previous game.
Five more Faith players were healthy enough to practice this week, which means Shipley is expecting to suit up 20 players against St. Joseph.
“Those guys didn’t practice (during the bye week),” he said. “And they go both ways. We were able to do more film study and watch St. Joseph.”
Coaches and players also were at the white board drawing out plays and clearing up roles, which was especially beneficial for new starting quarterback Garrett Henderson, Shipley said.
In his debut against St. Gerard, Henderson led the Flames as they picked up 320 yards of total offense in the victory.
jfierro@thepicayune.com