ELBERTA — In a battle of winless teams, the Elberta Warriors fell to 0-5 for the second year in a row with a 48-20 loss to Faith Academy on homecoming night.

The Rams avoided the same fate as they did in last year’s victory over Elberta and moved up to 1-3.

On the bright side of the homecoming heartbreaker, the Warriors’ 20 points were the most they had since scoring 27 points against the Rams last year.

Spectators couldn’t have asked for a more interesting start. The opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown by Elberta’s Brandon Nolan. A failed two-point conversion was followed by an onside kick recovered by Warrior wide receiver Devin Gause.

Elberta head coach Joel Williams had high praise for both players.

“He works really hard every day. He’s a senior, and it was good to see him have a big night tonight," Williams said of Nolan. "Him and Devin Gause, two bigtime players for us, and both of them had big plays tonight.”

It would be a long time before things went the Warriors’ way again. An interception thrown by quarterback Sam Harrison set Faith Academy up on their own 24-yard line.

The speed of Rams quarterback Eli Quinley joined the power of running back Theo Jackson to terrorize the Warriors all night. Faith Academy effortlessly took a 7-6 lead with 5:21 left in the first quarter.

Williams said he wasn’t surprised at his team’s difficulties in stopping the run.

“These programs are established, and we’re so far behind in the weight room.” Williams said. “They really haven’t trained and lifted weights here in two years. Our bodies are just not caught up with the rest of our league right now, so that’s something we’re going to have to work on.”

A muffed punt led to the Rams getting the ball on the Elberta 30-yard line. Quinley and Jackson ran it down to the 5-yard line, and a reception by Kobe Hunt put the game at 14-6.

A 78-yard rushing touchdown carried the fireworks over to the second quarter for Faith Academy. A fumble that put the Rams on the Warriors’ 1-yard line continued the trend with an even easier rushing score. A field goal followed, and Faith Academy led 31-6 at the half.

The onside kick trend would continue for Elberta to start the second half and wouldn’t end there. All four of the Warriors’ kickoffs were onside attempts.

More powerful runs by Jackson set up a rushing touchdown from Quinley, which brought the score to 38-6.

Harrison answered with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Gause. At 38-13, with 2:53 left in the third quarter, life began to return to John T. Cobb Stadium. The excitement didn’t last, as the Rams continued to lean into the rushing attack until a touchdown and a field goal moved the score to 48-13.

Elberta would see Nolan cast magic for the final time with an 80-yard touchdown reception to cement the game’s final score of 48-20. Both teams had their highest scoring game of the year.

“It’s just a continuing procedure, you know?” Williams said. “This program is built on a very solid foundation, and it won’t be any different from all the other programs I’ve built over the years. We’ll get it to a championship level one day.”

The Warriors will regroup during a bye week in preparation for a home game against the Vigor Wolves on Oct. 3. The Faith Academy faithful won’t have to wait as long; their game at St. Paul’s Episcopal is set for next Friday, Sept. 26.