Faith Academy football shines in scrimmage against Valor

CAPTION: Faith Academy of Marble Falls defenders Sawyer Jones (left), Graham McGraw, Karter Van Gundy and Joey Riccio stop the Austin Valor runner short of a first down. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team scored at will during its only scrimmage against Austin Valor Aug. 23 before lightning forced the teams to get off the field.

The Flames ran four plays then scored. That set off a chain reaction of scoring multiple touchdowns in a row.

Meanwhile, the Faith defense brought the hitting as it didn’t allow a first down for awhile. Valor couldn’t find an offensive rhythm as the Flames were too quick to ball carriers, leapt too high to knock down passes, and committed to containment too much as a team.

By the end, Faith found paydirt four times, while Valor didn’t before lightning was detected and forced teams to get off the field.

Carter Fromberg, Andrew Houy and Landon Silvers scored the touchdowns.

“They worked as a unit out there, that first group, and they were talking to each other,” head coach Jay Silvers said. “There’s a lot of communication, which was great, and they were picking the guys that they knew they needed to block to get our guys open, get (Houy) open. Drew and Landon both had long runs, Carter had good room and were able to kind of dump the balls a little bit.”

The coach applauded Houy’s way of weaving through the offense and running more than 50 yards to pay dirt. He also pointed out he believes the quarterback can be better.

“There’s some things I want him to work on, especially getting the ball down the field a little bit sooner,” he said. “He was a little bit hesitant of passing the ball. He would see a lane, and he just wants to hit that lane hard and go.” 

Silvers noted the strong wind impacted the passing game, but he liked the reads and where the ball was going.

“The communication part kind of surprised me,” he said. “I was thinking I was going to have to work a lot more on that, but that first group did a really good job. That second group, there’s a lot of work to do with them. They scored, I think, once and then just a lot of mistakes that we’re making. The little things we’ve got to get fixed up.”

The coach was pleased with what he saw defensively under the direction of new defensive coordinator Garrett Cole.

“I’m excited for them, ” Silvers said. “They’re moving, they’re attacking the ball, they’re doing their jobs. Coach Cole’s got them doing what he needs them to do to keep everything in front of them and attack when they need to attack and just contain when they need to contain. So they’re doing an excellent job. The guys are stepping up to go hit somebody and a lot of these younger guys are out there.”

He noted many of the newcomers made up the second units on both sides of the ball.

Faith will travel to play Pasadena First Baptist at 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, at Bryan Allen Academy on a neutral site.

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CAPTION: Faith Academy blocker Landon Silvers keeps his legs moving and doesn’t allow the Austin Valor defender to touch runner Carter Fromberg. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro