Lions defeat Dublin 48-21 in delayed season opener
By Sam Waller
After an unexpected delay, the Albany Lions finally got to kick off their football season last Friday.
While there were some rough spots and miscues along the way, the Lions got things straightened out well enough to take a 48-21 victory over the Dublin Lions at Dublin’s Bob and Norma Cervetto Field.
Albany (1-0) scored on five consecutive possessions in the second half to take control after struggling through a scoreless first quarter.
Quarterback Cole Chapman passed for four touchdowns – three to Cooper Fairchild – and ran for a fifth, while Jaheim Newton added a pair of rushing touchdowns.
The Lions get their second test at 7:00 p.m. Friday against Hamlin at Piper Stadium.
Albany opened the season a week late after the Aug. 27 game at Colorado City was cancelled because of COVID-19 issues.
“After missing last week’s game, our kids were ready to play,” Albany head coach Denney Faith said. “They were hungry and ready to get on the field.”
Still, Faith said, there are plenty of improvements that must be made.
“We still had some mistakes and things we’ve got to work on,” he said, “but overall, I was really pleased with the effort, enthusiasm, intensity, and excitement to get on the field and play.”
Albany never trailed after Chapman and Fairchild hooked up for the first score midway through the second quarter. Dublin (1-1) tied the game at 7-7, but Albany went in front to stay on its next drive and led 35-7 before Dublin scored again early in the fourth quarter.
“We gave up a couple of big plays defensively and one that I thought was a fluke –when a Dublin kid caught a tipped ball,” Faith said, “but we didn’t let them get momentum and get the ball rolling on their side.”
Quarterback Cole Chapman said the offensive success was just a matter of executing the game plan.
“Our line stepped up big and blocked really well up front to make plays happen,” he said. “Our receivers ran good routes. We checked a couple of things and made some plays happen.”
Faith was pleased with the balanced production.
“If you can stay balanced, it keeps the defense guessing,” he said. “We were able to do that. We had 200+ passing and 200+ rushing.”
Defensively, Albany gave up 335 yards, 263 of it passing. All three of Dublin’s scores came on plays covering more than 30 yards. Dublin quarterback Chris Teton was 19 of 32 passing for 263 yards and two TDs, but was picked off twice.
“They like to throw the ball, so we weren’t as worried about them running it on us,” Albany linebacker Brooks Neece said. “When they’d go out in spread formations, we’d take our people out of the box and made sure we had everyone covered with safety help over the top. Their air-it-out game is their biggest threat, so we wanted to make sure they didn’t have that.”
Faith said the key to the defense was getting enough pressure up front to disrupt Teton’s timing.
“They have such a quick passing game,” the coach said. “Our pressure was making sure our linemen were getting their hands up and making him throw over people, then pressing their receivers a little bit.”
Tye Edgar recorded Albany’s only sack in the fourth quarter, long after the outcome was decided.
“We had three tipped balls at the line of scrimmage with our defensive line,” Faith said. “That was the pressure we were trying to get. It’s going to be hard to get a sack on those guys who get rid of the ball so quickly, but you can still get your hands up and make them throw over you.”
Newton and Taren Farmer were each credited with 5.5 tackles to lead Albany, with Robert Bailey adding 4.5 and Neece four. Fairchild and London Fuentes each had an interception.
“I thought our defense played really well,” Faith said. “We mixed up some coverages and did some things a little different defensively that I don’t know that they were ready for. Penalties and our own mistakes kept us from scoring in the first quarter. We had some opportunities.”
Albany reached the Dublin 4-yard line in the third quarter only to suffer its lone turnover. Dublin’s Javier Parra intercepted Chapman’s pass near the goal line, but Neece forced and recovered a fumble on the return. Two plays later, Chapman found Fairchild from 12 yards out to give Albany a two-score lead.
ALBANY DUBLIN
26 1st Downs 13
38-216 Yds Rushing 20-72
21-29 Passes Comp., Att. 19-32
2 Passes Int By 1
255 Passing Yds. 263
471 Total Yds. 335
3-42.3 Punts, Avg. 4-27.0
0 of 3 Fumbles Lost 1 of 2
10-90 Penalties, Yds. 7-79
28:59 Time of Possession 18:44
RUSHING: Newton 18-127, Chapman 11-95, Bailey 2-14. RECEIVING: Fairchild 9-91, Hill 6-87, Fuentes 4-64, Bailey 1-10, Newton 1-3. PASSING: Chapman 21 of 29 for 265.
Scoring Summary
Albany – Cole Chapman pass complete to Cooper Fairchild for 4-yard touchdown. PAT kick by London Fuentes good. 2nd qtr - 4:58 - 7-0.
Dublin – Cameron Patton runs for 34-yard touchdown. PAT kick by Christian Ramirez good. 2nd qtr - 3:24 - 7-7.
Albany – Chapman pass compete to Adam Hill for 17-yard score. PAT kick by Fuentes good. 2nd qtr - 1:00 - 14-7.
Albany – Chapman pass complete to Fairchild for 14-yard score. PAT kick by Fuentes good. 3rd qtr - 7:44 - 21-7.
Albany – Chapman pass complete to Fairchild for 4-yard touchdown. PAT kick blocked. 3rd qtr - 4:33 - 27-7.
Albany – Jaheim Newton runs for 1-yard touchdown. 2-point pass from Chapman to Samuel Rosas good. 3rd qtr - 0:02 - 35-7.
Dublin – Chris Teton pass complete to Dalan Rasberry for 60-yard score. PAT kick by Ramirez good. 4th qtr - 10:54 - 35-14.
Albany – Chapman runs for 52-yard score. 2-point pass no good. 4th qtr - 10:43 - 41-14.
Dublin – Teton passes to Tyler Harrell for 74-yard touchdown. PAT kick by Ramirez good. 4th qtr - 9:16 - 41-21.
Albany – Newton runs for 41-yard score. PAT kick by Fuentes good. 4th qtr - 8:27 - 48-21.
Facing Hamlin
Hamlin is 0-2 in its first season under head coach Chris Evans, who replaced longtime Pipers coach Russell Lucas. Evans posted a 33-16 record in four seasons at Wheeler before coming to Hamlin.
Hamlin lost its opener 38-6 at Stamford, then lost 62-0 to Hawley last week.
Faith said he still expects a good effort from the Pipers, who won last year’s meeting 42-6.
Faith said he’s looking for the Lions to correct some of the issues that caused problems in their opener.
“We had 10 penalties,” he said, “and that’s way too many to be able to beat really good football teams.”
Ticket information
All tickets for the game will be sold at the gate. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. Gates will open about 45 minutes before kickoff.
