Lions bring home trophy #2!
State championships come in pairs for the Albany Lions. Every 62 years, just like clockwork.
The Lions completed a magical run to the 2023 Class 2A Division II crown Thursday, Dec. 14 with aconvincing28-10 victory over the Mart Panthers before a crowd of 8,257 – nearly 2½ times the combined populations of the towns – at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium. The win came exactly one year after Albany defeated Mart in last year’s state final on Dec. 14, 2022.
The championship is the fourth for Albany, joining the titles of 1960, 1961, and 2022. The Lions matched the 1961 team in repeating as state champions with an undefeated record. In going 16-0, the 2023 team did the 1961 squad (15-0) one better, becoming the first Albany team to win 16 games in a season.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Lions head coach DenneyFaith,whonowhas360 career victories and two titles. “I’m proud for our kids, who had a target on their backs all year long, getting everybody’s best game for 16 weeks. They were able to rise up to that challenge, starting No. 1 in the polls and finishing that way.”
Lions quarterback Chip Chambers, who passed for two touchdowns, said Albany simply performed better on the big stage.
“We were really just calm and composed coming into this game,” Chambers said. “We knew the lights were going to be bright and knew Mart was going to be good. They can be scary. It’s just how you look at it.”
Behind three touchdowns from Offensive MVPAdam Hill and a stifling defense led by Defensive MVP Zane Waggoner, the Lions took control with a 21-point second quarter in the climate-controlled conditions at AT&T Stadium.
“We were able to get some momentum and put two scores on the board right before the half,” Faith said. “That was really good. It switched the momentum and gave our kids some confidence coming out for the second half.”
Hill finished off his high school career with 132 yards on 24 carries, scoring on runs of 52 and 5 yards. He also caught a 2-yard scoring pass from Chambers.
Hill joined Coy Lefevre, Offensive MVP of the 2022 game, as Lions to win the award.
“It was a great feeling,” Hill said of hearing his name called during the postgame presentation, “but I agree with Coy. It needs to go to my offensive line. They’re the reason I got all the yards.”
Waggoner, who saw action at defensive tackle, end and linebacker, led an effort that kept yet another explosive offense under wraps. The senior recorded nine total tackles with 1 ½ sacks and two quarterback pressures. He also forced a shanked punt that failed to reach the line of scrimmage with a strong rush.
“My part was to set the tone up front, make them have to bounce outside and not be able to run between the tackles,” Waggoner said.
Mart (15-1) didn’t run very well outside the tackles either, managing 79 yards rushing. The Lions finished with five sacks among 11 tackles for loss that cost the Panthers 46 yards.
“This was as good a defense as we’ve played in Albany for a long time,” Faith said after holding Mart to 200 total yards. “Our coaches prepare our kids, and then the kids are able to execute the plan. We hung our hat on defense all year long. I wasn’t surprised by how well we played defensively.”
Jaxson Hoel ledAlbany with 12 total tackles, followed by WaggonerandWyattWindham, last year’s Defensive MVP, with nine each. Luke Marshall and TylerChapmaneachhadseven, with Houston Heatly making six, including two sacks.
And defense set the tone right away as Cason Fairchild intercepted Mart quarterback De’Montrel Medlock on the first play of the game.
“It definitely took the momentum,” Fairchild said. “We just had to keep on getting big plays, and we ended up on top.”
Medlock finished 14 of 24 for 121 yards with two interceptions.
The defensive effort set up the Albany offense for scoring drives of 52, 41, 41, and 26 yards. The Lions finished with 249 total yards against what Faith called the best defense Albany saw this year.
Chambers completed 11 of 24 attempts for 91 yards. Fairchild had eight receptions for 48 yards and finished with 107 all-purpose yards.
“We came in again this week taking what they were giving us, whether it was short, deep, or them trying to stop Adam,” Chambers said. “I know that’s always a tough thing every week.”
Despite the opening takeaway, one of three for the Lions, Mart took a 3-0 lead on its next possession with a 38-yard field goal by Armando Chavez with 6:51 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers then went 34 minutes, 24 seconds of game time and 48 plays over 10 possessions before scoring again.
After two punts and an interception on a tipped ball in the first quarter, the Lions turned things around in the second quarter. Mart punted on the third play of the period after Waggoner forced Medlock into an intentional grounding penalty for a 14-yard loss. Albany took the lead for good on the fourth.
Hill took a handoff and burst up the middle through a gaping hole, then eluded two defenders as he cut to right side. Picking upblocksfromWaggoner,Branson Beal and Calhan Fairchild, Hill crossed the goal line with 10:48 left in the half.
“We knew we were going to end up breaking one if we just kept chipping away at 3 or 4 yards,” Hill said. “It finally happened, and that changed the momentum of the game.”
The Lions missed a field goal on their next possession after startingattheMart37,buttook control late in the half.
With the Panthers facing a first down at the Albany 49, Medlock had the ball slip out of his hand as he attempted to pass. Lanxton Viertel won the scramble for the loose ball, and BealtookapassfromChambers 37 yards to score two plays later.
“I was just trying to get (Medlock’s) hands away from it so he couldn’t recover it and let one of the other guys get to it,” Viertel said of the recovery. “It gave us a momentum boost going into the half.”
On the touchdown, Chambers slid to his left to avoid pressure and found Beal free at the 23 near the sideline. Beal avoided a tackler at the 15 and sped into the end zone behind a blockfromCasonFairchildwith 1:58 remaining before halftime.
“Chip made a good play by stepping up in the pocket and extending the play,” said Beal, who finished with two catches for 41 yards. “The guy guarding me just lost me; I ran behind him, and Chip threw a good ball. All I could think of was scoring.”
The Lions weren’t done, though. A penalty on the ensuing kickoff pushed Mart back to its 9-yard line, and Faith used all three timeouts to force the Panthers to punt from the 12.
Albany took over at the Mart 42 with 1:13 on the clock, but faced third-and-15 after a penalty. Cason Fairchild ran 21 yards on a reverse to convert, escaping two defenders in the backfield before getting around the corner, then caught a 16yard pass on the next play to give the Lions first-and-goal at the 9.
Two plays later, a pass interference penalty in the end zone moved the ball to the 2, and Chambers hit Hill, who was lined up in the left slot, on a slant for an 18-point lead with 11 seconds left.
“Those two touchdowns – I’ve got to give props to the receivers,” Chambers said. “They both ran great routes and were looking at me at the right time.”
Chambers said Beal’s score was especially fun to watch.
“With how quick Branson is, when you see him in open space, it’s kind of like eyecandy,”thequarterback said. “I know that’s always a good sign, so I had to hit him.”
The third quarter was a defensive slugfest with Albany failing to gain a first down on four possessions, one of which ended on downs after starting at the Mart 36. Waggoner, who averaged 38 yards on five punts for the game, hit a pair of 42-yard punts to keep Mart in its own end.
Faith said with a 21-3 lead, his main concern was not to give up something cheaptoletMartpullcloser.
“We went back in with the philosophy of not turning it over and giving them a short field,” he said. “A punt’s not bad; let’s just keep using clock. If we ended up punting, we needed to get a good one off and make them go a longer distance, and let them use some clock, too.”
The Lion defense did its partwithWindhampicking off a pass tipped by Beal, forcing a punt, and holding on downs at the Lion 21 when Cason Fairchild dropped Mart receiver Richard Green for a loss on fourth down.
The Panthers started their best drive with 1:09 left in the quarter, driving 70 yards in 11 plays for JD Bell’s 7-yard touchdown run. The problem was the drive consumed 4:42, leaving Mart needing two more scores in the final 8:27.
Albany made that task more difficult by recovering an onside kick and driving to the Mart 22 in eight plays, running 4:16 off the clockbeforeturningtheball over on downs.
Hill picked up Albany’s first first down of the half when,aftermuffingadirect snap, he scooped the ball up, hurdled one Panther, and rumbled a total of 13 yards, bulldozing over another defender at the end of the run.
“Our game plan was to come in and try to run the ball, especially the second half,” Faith said. “We wanted to use some clock. I think we ended up wearing them down.”
With time running out, the Panthers were forced to goforitonfourthdownfrom their own 26. Medlock’s incompletion gave Albany the ball with 2:56 left in the game. The Lions ran off more than two minutes before Hill added the exclamation point to the season, taking another direct snap around the right side behind a wall of blockers for his third touchdown of the day with 49 seconds to go.
