Photo by Nolan Ruth
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
IRVING— Just blocks away from where “The Triplets” and the “Doomsday Defense” called home, Parker County’s newest football program took the field for its biggest game in the school’s young history. The Grace Christian Colts, having already clinched a postseason berth, made the trip to Dallas County to face the defending state champion Irving Faustina Falcons in the TCAF division of Texas High School Football.
Faustina, who had already defeated Parker County’s own Azle Christian earlier in the season, came in as a heavy favorite against the upstart Colts, and lived up to the hype, cruising to a 58-8 victory by mercy rule with 9:39 to go in the fourth quarter.
“We knew that if we tried to move the ball quickly, we could move the ball,” coach Austin Norman said postgame. “It just didn’t work for us that way.”
Despite the lopsided loss, the small but passionate community around the infant Colts’ program made the over 80-mile trek decked in blue to support their team.
“Our fans have been great this year,” coach Sammy Ellison said about the program’s support. “They have supported us nonstop. Win, lose, or draw they are going to show up for us and our boys.They support us tremendously.”
The defense made a strong push on the opening drive, making the Falcons push for every yard, but ultimately Faustina found the endzone when Joseph Cook connected with James Reiter to take an early 6-0 lead.
Grace Christian’s offense put together a solid ensuing drive, but stalled close to the goal line. It only took one play for Marcos Mollo to go the length of the field, extending the lead. Then again, the Colts got close to the goal line but fell short, setting up a long run from Mollo, making it 20-0 after one quarter.
The Falcons then scored five more times in the second quarter, setting themselves up to end the game by mercy rule. The first came on a trick-play; a double-reverse pass to Troy Thill from 30 yards out. Then, the Faustina defense forced GCA into a rare punting situation, allowing Kevin Wood to make a big return, making it 33-0.
Then, the Colts got their only points as Waxin Tiger went up and made a stellar interception, and returned it all the way for a touchdown. The two-point kick resulted in the only eight points Grace would find all night.
“It gave us hope,” Ellison said. “That gave us hope that we still wanted to fight.”
The Falcons quickly responded when Mick Jeggle connected with Kevin Wood for the touchdown pass, followed by Adrian Medina finding Reiter for the score. From there, all it took was a touchdown and a two-point kick to end the game at the half.
However, after Cook scored the next touchdown, head coach Chris Peacock opted to go for one-point, allowing the game to have a halftime for the homecoming ceremony. The Colts went into the break feeling defeated, but not completely out of it.
“We let them talk amongst themselves,” Ellison said about the halftime period. “We let them figure it out and then we used the analogy of David and Goliath and build a brotherhood in this team. I told them that we’re the David and they’re Goliath.”
With the score at 52-8, any score would have ended the game for the Falcons, however the Colts caused two late turnovers to give themselves a chance. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalize, leading to a scoreless third quarter.
Then, just seconds into the fourth quarter, Faustina’s Jack Howard walked it off with a 25-yard run to end the game at 58-8.
“We told them today,” Norman prophesied, “Win or lose, we see them in two weeks. That doesn’t mean that we’re looking past Waco Methodist, I just know that I have the confidence in my team that we should go out there, do what we need to do and see them again in a state championship.”
Grace Christian’s regular season comes to an end with a record of 7-2 and will face Waco Methodist in the TCAF Semifinal. Meanwhile, Faustina finishes a perfect 9-0 regular season and will face Arlington St. Paul’s. If both teams win next week, they will rematch for the state championship on November 14 in Fort Worth for the TCAF state championship.
