Faith Academy Flames end training camp with solid performance against Austin Veritas

CUTLINE: The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football finished its training camp with an impressive performance against Austin Veritas. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team didn’t display a weakness during its scrimmage against Austin Veritas Aug. 19. The Flames scored six times and the Faith defense, which gave up two touchdowns, made a statement, head coach Stephen Shipley said.

“The defense played really well,” he said. “I think we only gave up a handful of first downs. Their two touchdowns were on busted plays. One happened when the ball was tipped and the guy caught it. I was pretty pleased, I was really pleased with our defense. (Senior) Jordan Tarver is our mainstay and everybody was doing their jobs and making plays. We didn’t have missed assignments on defense. Out of the first 25 plays, we didn’t give up a first down. The defense was playing really well and made a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage.”

Seniors Jadon Jones and Elijah Blackington and junior Kade Shaw made their defensive presence known, the coach said.

“Jaden is a defensive back and had three pass break-ups,” he said. “He played really well in the secondary. Elijah and Kade were upfront and had good nights. Kade is our pass rusher. He was running sideline to sideline. He was pretty winded. He had a great game offensively and defensively.”

The Flames scored by land and through the air as they relied on a slew of weapons that included sophomore Karter Fromberg, junior Cross Sanchez and Shaw.

Each offense had 25 plays and the two teams played a 10-minute quarter.

“We worked on our passing game,” Shipley said. “We completed a lot of passes and some deep balls we missed last week.”

He commended Fromberg and Sanchez, who both threw the ball with accuracy and strength, and Shaw for being the deep-threat receiver.

“He was our No. 1 receiver,” the coach said. “We had him coming out of the backfield catching the ball. If it was close, he caught it.”

Sanchez and Blackington were the workhorses in the run game.

“They ran the ball well,” Shipley said. “We tried to stay balanced. We wanted to get our deep ball going, we have some good arms and speed. When the defense was playing run, we passed. It helps our sweeps and our end-arounds, it loosens everything up.”

Faith now turns its attention to the season opener against Austin St. Stephens at 7 p.m. at Britton Field, 3151 RR 1431 East in Marble Falls.

“They looked really athletic,” Shipley said. “They were an 11-man school two years ago. They went 11-0 last year. They’re going to be good. They’re scheduling the top six-man teams in the state. They’re not shying away from anyone.”

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