Faith Academy football turns attention to San Marcos Academy

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls football team welcomes San Marcos Academy at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, to Britton Field in the Division II, District 4 opener of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.

The Flames (2-6) are coming off a bye last week, while the Bears (2-5) are on a two-game losing streak. They lost to Waco Valor 73-47 last week.

San Marcos Academy is led by a quartet of underclassmen. Freshman quarterback Major Howard has completed 59 of 100 passes for 791 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions and has 16 carries for 127 yards and two scores. Sophomore Rye Roberts has 49 rushes for 438 yards and two touchdowns and six catches for 114 yards and two scores and sophomore David Followell has 13 receptions for 272 yards and seven touchdowns.

As a team, the Bears have thrown for more than 1,000 yards using five different passers and 11 different receivers. They have rushed for more than 1,100 yards using nine different ball carriers.

SMA senior Evan Donoso is the defensive leader thanks to tallying 61 tackles, a sack and an interception followed by sophomore Caleb Armstrong with 54 tackles, a sack, an interception, a fumble and a blocked field goal, and Followell with 42 tackles.

The Flames will counter with senior Carter Fromberg, junior Andrew Houy and freshman Landon Silvers.

During last week’s bye, the Flames worked on their fundamentals and basics with an emphasis on the defense. Head coach Jay Silvers, who serves as the offensive coordinator, installed a few more wrinkles to the scheme.

Making sure the Flames are in the right spots to make plays was a big priority, Silvers said, because one busted tackle can lead to points for the offense. Faith has relied on underclassmen on this side of the ball, and Silvers noted it was imperative to get those players more comfortable in the formations and scheme.

“It’s been fundamentally making sure we understand the little things,” he said. “We’ll have different formations and different things to distribute the ball.”

Training athletes to learn multiple positions also remains big. The best part for the program, the coach said, is the players are willing to contribute where they’re needed.

“It’s definitely the mentally part for the guys we have,” Silvers said. “I feel like every kid out there, if we told them, they’d do it. I feel blessed they’re willing to do whatever. They’re willing to do the best they can. It’ll pay off for us. It’s worth all the short gain for the long-term gains in the end.”

Faith enters this contest on a three-game losing streak.