JV Lions roll over Dublin in 44-6 win
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions junior varsity football team defeated Dublin 44-6 last Thursday at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Lute Wheeler passed for three touchdowns, and Ashton Bailey scored three times, twice on punt returns. Cason Fairchild caught two scoring passes, and Branson Beal also had a receiving touchdown.
Fairchild, Bryson Herring, and Tyler Chapman had interceptions.
“Defensively, I thought we played well,” coach David Fairchild said. “Houston Heatly, Herring, Ethan Green, Wyatt Beard, Chapman, Beal, and Cole Read made some big plays.”
Offensively, the coach cited Wheeler, Fairchild, Bailey, Beal, and Heatly.
Wheeler connected with Cason Fairchild for Albany’s first score, and Bailey followed with a 1-yard TD run to give the Lions a 12-0 lead. Bailey then returned a Dublin punt 65 yards for the next score.
With 22 seconds remaining in the first half, Beal pulled in a 16-yard TD pass from Wheeler.
Herring’s interception came on Dublin’s first play after the kickoff and set up Fairchild’s second score on a 30-yard pass to make the lead 30-0 at halftime.
Albany’s touchdowns in the second half both came on returns. Bailey took a punt back 72 yards to score, and Chapman returned an interception 60 yards to the end zone.
Bailey kicked following both scores after Albany failed on two-point conversions in the first half.
The JV Lions are scheduled to host Hamlin on Thursday (today) as the nightcap of a tripleheader with the junior high teams, although at press time, Hamlin coaches weren’t sure they could field a JV team. The action is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. with the seventh grade, followed by the eighth grade and JV.
