Faith Academy football wants to move faster, think less against Bulverde Gloria Deo
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team will host Bulverde Gloria Deo at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, at Britton Field on the Faith campus.
It’s been two weeks since the Flames have faced anyone other than themselves. In the first week of training camp Aug. 1-2, they welcomed Austin Veritas for two days then traveled there the second week for a six-team scrimmage.
Since then the Flames have practiced against themselves, and head coach John Hallam, who will be making his debut against Gloria Deo, said he was pleased with what he saw from his players.
“It was as good week after the scrimmages,” he said. “We had a lot of clarity of what we needed to work on. We started installing the game plan.”
Faith is hosting a confident Lions squad that played for the championship of the Texas Association of Independent Athletic Organizations in 2022 after beating Smoking for Jesus in the semifinals in Burnet.
The Lions list two quarterbacks: junior Caleb Ross and freshman Trip Kuper.
Junior Nolan Chandler had 17 carries for 230 yards and four scores and 15 receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown in 2022, Ross is the team’s top returning receiver thanks to catching 38 pass for for 561 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2022. Junior receiver Evan Spondike had 24 catches for 481 yards and 7 scores.
The Flames will counter with Andrew Houy, Nash Renfro, Cross Sanchez, Ian Smiles and a roster of experienced players used to winning championships.
One key emphasis from Hallam to his players is to play with certainty.
“In the scrimmages, there was a lot of thinking and not playing fast,” he said. “And we worked on things to make it simple, so guys can play full speed. It’s all reps at this point.”
Hallam said he remains committed to giving playing time to all the Flames. Right now it’s not about enacting the 45-point mercy rule; it’s about getting every Flame comfortable in the schemes and giving them opportunities to contribute to the overall goals.
“If we have a good half in the game, we’re going to be working depth,” he said.
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