Faith opens playoffs with 48-0 win
Faith Academy of Marble Falls head coach Stephen Shipley congratulates his Flames on defeating Red Oak Ovilla Christian 48-0 to begin the playoffs Nov. 13. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team beat Red Oak Ovilla 48-0 on Nov. 13 at home to begin the Class 2A playoffs of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
It only took two quarters for the Flames (10-0, 6-0 District 4, Division II) to get the postseason victory due to the TAPPS mercy rule, which ends games when a team is up by 45 points or more at the half.
Faith now focuses on a rematch with Bryan Allen Academy, which ended the Flames’ 2020 season one win away from playing for the state championship. The game is 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, at Bible Stadium, 3301 S. Bagdad Road in Leander.
“In six-man, you put your foot on their neck and you don’t let them up,” said Faith head coach Stephen Shipley. “This was our seniors’ last game on (Britton Field). In the last three years, they’re 16-1 at home.”
Ovilla (6-5, 2-3 District 3 Division II) got the ball first and promptly turned it over. Faith needed only two plays to score. Senior Harrison Hanner ran for 30 yards on first down and then 1 yard for the touchdown to give Faith a 6-0 lead with 7 minutes 52 seconds left in the opening quarter. By the end of the quarter, the Flames led 20-0.
The rest of the game played out in a similar fashion with the Flames defense holding Ovilla to only 35 yards of total offense. The Faith offense only needed a handful of plays to score on each drive.
In all, Faith had seven possessions and seven touchdowns:
- senior Case Coleman on a 25-yard scamper;
- Hanner on a 1-yard run;
- senior Cody Owens with a 17-yard dash;
- senior Brendan Thames with a 1-yard catch from Coleman;
- Hanner with a 3-yard trot
- and Hanner with an 18-yard catch from Coleman.
Faith had two drives that were each six plays, while Ovilla had one drive that was seven plays. Most were four.
“Ovilla wanted to eat the clock up,” Shipley said. “They wanted to keep our offense off the field, which is smart on their part. We had to keep our defense on the field. Our defense had to stay out there and play. We scored quickly, and our defense did a good job of staying on the field. They did a good job of containing their speed, of holding them and containing them.”
The Flames racked up 217 yards of total offense with 107 yards on the ground. Coleman completed 5 of 7 passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, had three carries for 35 yards and a score, and caught two passes for 29 yards.
Hanner had five carries for 55 yards and three touchdowns, completed two passes for 29 yards, and caught an 18-yard touchdown pass.
“Case and Harrison are the best one-two punch in the state in six-man football,” Shipley said. “They are the best two power backs in the state. They both have good speed. They both put their heads down and run and compete.”
As pleased as Coleman was with the offensive performance, he credited the defense for the victory.
“In the playoffs, the teams are a little better,” he said. “The defense never got a break. They really pulled through. We scored 45 on them; the defense held them. It says more about our team. A win’s a win, but at the end of the day, we love each other.”