Lions out to 3-0 start thanks to offensive line play

The Grapevine Faith Christian football team has jumped out to a 3-0 start this season, and coach Kris Hogan said a big part of the reason why is the play of the big men up front.

Faith defeated Gainesville State School by a score of 43-24 and Hogan said it was a good opportunity to evaluate the depth of his team.

“We didn’t get to play our varsity kids very much,” Hogan said. “But we were able to play a lot of kids. It was one of those games where everybody gets to play. Our depth is about like it is most years, where you’ve got a middle group of number twos that are pretty dependable, but after that, there are some question marks.”

Hogan said that with one game left before the start of district play, he is feeling pretty good about how his team is performing.

“I feel good about this team,” Hogan said. “They have good chemistry. The guys love each other and they play hard. That’s a good little mixture right there.”

Hogan said that a big part of the success is the play of offensive linemen Jack Leonhard, Cooper McCaw, Braeden Barret, Noah Williams and Luke McCleery.

“Our offensive line is playing on a different level than they did last year,” Hogan said. “They have really been setting the pace for the team in terms of execution. They are doing a good job.”

Faith will host Blooming Grove at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and Hogan said that he feels his team matches up well with the style of game they play.

“Blooming Grove played very hard against us last year at their place,” Hogan said. “They do have some athletes. We feel like we match well with our run game against their defense, and we actually feel we match up well with their offensive scheme. They are a big spread team, and we have a lot of good cover kids. We feel pretty confident.”

Over at Colleyville Covenant, the Cougars came up short against Frisco Legacy on Friday by a score of 24-14.

Covenant scored first in the game on a three-yard run from Alan Maldonado, but Legacy scored twice in the second quarter and led 14-7 at half time.

The Cougars tied it up in the third quarter when Zach Carnes broke a 68-yard run for Covenant, but Legacy scored 10 unanswered points to pull out the victory.

Covenant Christian Academy will be in its bye week on Friday and will open up district at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 when it hosts Muenster Sacred Heart.

This story was originally published September 14, 2015 at 3:15 PM with the headline "Lions out to 3-0 start thanks to offensive line play."