Faith Academy faces district favorite St. Paul
Faith Academy of Marble Falls senior linebacker Caleb Todd (54) and junior defensive lineman Trey Vento tackle the Texas School for the Deaf ball carrier during the Flames’ 26-14 loss to the Rangers on Sept. 25. Photo by Paloma Ortiz
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — Two football teams experiencing very different fortunes the first half of the season meet Oct. 2.
That’s when Faith Academy (0-5) travels to Shiner St. Paul (5-0) for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Comanche Football Stadium, 510 CR 348 in Shiner.
Flames head coach Randy Denton said St. Paul is considered the favorite to capture the Division III, District 3 championship, especially after beating Schertz John Paul II 49-0 the previous week. John Paul II was thought to be one of the squads to challenge for the district crown in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
St. Paul has eight offensive and nine defensive starters returning from a squad that went 9-3 last year and was a regional finalist.
The offensive line averages about 245 pounds and features junior Austin Barton, a 6-foot 3-inch, 180-pound quarterback.
“They’re big, they run power football and do play action passes and throw it all over,” Denton said, adding that the Cardinals don’t mind defenses knowing what play they’ve called because they believe their players will do their parts correctly, which leads to positive yards.
The defense is led by defensive backs Jed Janecek and Marco Ynclan, linebacker Conor Kresta and defensive end Colton Machart.
The Cardinals like to put seven at the line of scrimmage, which means a lot of one-on-one coverages in the secondary.
The Flames enter this contest after losing to Texas for the Deaf 26-14 on Sept. 25.
Senior running back Jonathan Reyes scored on a two-yard run and hauled in a three-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Rich Coleman after Faith trailed 26-0.
Denton said his athletes played well 85 percent of the game. However, TSD was able to take advantage of explosive plays and a fumble to build a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.
“Without those things, we would have been right in the game,” he said.
One factor that would help the Flames is consistent play from start to finish, he said. Instead, opponents such as TSD have three long plays to burn the defense and the Faith offense may have a breakdown on one part of a play that results in the Flames being behind the chains.
“(TSD) did a good job of finding open players,” he said. “They happened at inopportune times.”
The Flames’ first fumble occurred on the 40-yard line after an explosive play.
“We just have to get better and be more consistent,” Denton said. “We didn’t play bad; we just didn’t play well enough to win.”
The coach said the Flames are playing hard.
“We’re getting the effort for the most part,” he said, “but you have to do your job every single play.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com