Faith Academy football hosts district favorite Shiner St. Paul
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
MARBLE FALLS — After playing four consecutive road games, the Faith Academy football team is hoping the home crowd will help the Flames snap a two-game losing skid.
But it won’t be easy as the Flames (1-4 overall, 0-1 district) welcome Shiner St. Paul (3-2-1, 1-0) in their District 3, Division III home opener. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 at Pony Stadium, 1511 Pony Circle Drive in Marble Falls.
St. Paul is considered the favorite to win the district crown.
“They’re probably the best team in our district,” Flames head coach Russ Roberts said. “They were 1-9 last year but won the state title two years ago.”
The Cardinals beat Schertz John Paul II 22-3 last week to begin division play with a win.
Roberts said the reason St. Paul posted a losing record a year ago is because graduation hit the program hard after it won the state championship.
“You have a bunch of underclassmen,” he said. “You have small numbers with a high graduation rate.”
The Flames and Cardinals have never played each other, but they share much of the same philosophy.
St. Paul lines up in the Power-I offensively with some single-wing looks.
“They drove the big schools up north crazy,” Roberts said. “They had to play a type of football the others never saw, and they couldn’t see it. It’s very helpful when no one sees it. And they stuck with it.”
The coach said he believes playing at home will help his squad.
“You’re in a situation you’re going to have to respond,” he said, “and we’re glad to be at home.”
The Flames began district play with a 50-13 loss at Texas School for the Deaf on Sept. 26. Once he reviewed film, Roberts said Faith played well enough offensively to win.
“We failed on defense and must correct those mistakes,” the coach said. “This will be hard with our injuries.”
Fatigue, injuries and poor execution led to the result, Roberts said.
“It’s going to be a mental battle first,” he said. “We have to correct our mental mistakes and have the proper attitude to work on the physical skills. We have to do a better job there.”
Roberts said he believes Texas School for the Deaf head coach Chris Hamilton at halftime challenged the Rangers to play better even though they had a 20-13 lead.
“They created separation better with their performance and their execution than ours,” the Faith coach said. “I thought we made their effort look better than it was. We weren’t in the proper frame of mind to execute it successfully.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com