Albany to meet Celeste at area
The Albany Lions took the first step forward on the Class 2A Division II football playoffs Thursday, Nov. 9 with a 60-0 bi-district victory over the Eldorado Eagles at Colorado City’s Wolf Stadium.
The Lions (110) advance to the area round to take on the Celeste Blue Devils at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17 at Springtown’s Porcupine Stadium.
On a rainy night against Eldorado, Albany dominated fromthestart.AdamHillscored the first of his five touchdowns on the second play of the game, and Eldorado did not gain a first down, finishing with minus-28 total yards. It was the second consecutive game in which the Lions held an opponent to negative yardage.
“The kids played really well on both sides of the ball,” Lions head coach Denney Faith said. “We were efficient on offense and, again, it was an unbelievable defensive effort – no first downs and negative yardage. It was encouraging to see us play as well as we did with no turnovers in inclement weather.”
Albany scored on its first nine possessions, then ran just one play on the 10th before allowing the clock to run out. The Lions finished with 383 yards on 36 plays, an average of 10.6 yards per snap.
Faith said striking quickly on the opening possession set a tone the Lions were able to maintain.
“Anytime you can take the lead, you’ve got to feel good about that,” he said.
Field position was heavily in Albany’s favor. The Lions’ average starting point was the Eldorado 43. Albany started four series on its own side of the 50, taking just seven snaps in Lions territory.
Meanwhile, Eldorado started its first two possessions inside its 10 and never got beyond its 40.
“We made some plays on special teams,” Faith said. “Our kick coverage was outstanding, which gave them a long field.”
The Eagles went three-and out on seven of 10 possessions and lost fumbles on two. Eldorado, which was 0 for 8 on third downs, faced fourth-and-24 at its own 17 when the first half ended.
“The defense has been playing really good,” defensive back Calhan Fairchild said.
See Football, pg. 3B
SCORING SUMMARY Albany – Adam Hill runs 48 yards to score. Zane Waggoner’s kick is good. 1st qtr - 11:33 - 7-0 Albany – Hill carries ball final yard for touchdown. Waggoner’s kick is good. 1st qtr - 6:59 - 14-0 Albany – Hill takes handoff 7 yards for TD. Kick is no good. 1st qtr 2:35 - 20-0.
Albany – Hill runs 7 yards to score. Kick is no good. 2nd qtr 10:25 - 26-0 Albany – Chip Chambers pass complete to Cason Fairchild for 38-yard score. Kick by Waggoner is good. - 2nd qtr - 8:15 - 33-0 Albany –Chamberscompletes13yard pass play to Calhan Fairchild. Waggoner’s kick is good. 2nd qtr - 6:53 - 40-0 Albany – Chambers pass complete to Branson Beal for 22-yard scoring play. Waggoner’s kick is good. - 2nd qtr - 4:48 - 47-0 Albany – Hill takes handoff and runs 25 yards to goal line. Kick by Wagoneer is good. 3rd qtr 7:01 - 54-0 Albany – Breylon Billington runs for 22-yard score. Kick is blocked. 4th qtr - 7:20 - 60-0 PLAYOFF PAIRINGS CLASS 2A DIVISION II REGION II BI-DISTRICT Wink 43, Cross Plains 0 Muenster 44, Haskell 7 Albany 60, Eldorado 0 Celeste 41, Seymour 12 Windthorst 55, Lindsay 21 Roscoe 60, McCamey 26 Collinsville 62, Archer City 0 Miles 48, Sterling City 0
AREA
Wink (10-1) vs. Muenster (7-4), 7:00 p.m. Friday, Indian Stadium, Tuscola Albany (11-0) vs. Celeste (8-3), 7:00 p.m. Friday, Porcupine Stadium, Springtown Windthorst (9-2) vs. Roscoe (9-2), 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Wilford Moore Stadium, Abilene Collinsville (10-1) vs. Miles (8-3), 7:00 p.m. Friday, Buckaroo Stadium, Breckenridge “We haven’t given up a lot of yards, and we’ve been stopping the run really well. We just need to keep playing like that.”
The Albany defense, which hasn’t allowed a pointsinceSept.22against Comanche, finished with more plays for losses (12) than Eldorado had for gains (seven). The Eagles’ longest play was an 8-yard keeper by Jonnie Rae Adame, giving them second-and-2 at their 30.
Albanyscoredtwoplays later.
Hill rushed for 153 yards on 13 carries with TDs of 48, 1, 7, 7, and 26 yards. His first score came just 27 seconds into the gameandwasalltheLions needed.
“We have confidence that we don’t have to score that much because our defense is so good,” Hill said. “We just rely on our defense. That first one could have been the only score of the night, and we’d have been fine.”
Still, the senior admitted, it’s nice to know the offense is capable of adding to a lead just to make sure.
“The offense was clicking, and it’s going to keep clicking the rest of the playoffs, I think,” he said.
Chip Chambers overcame a slow start to complete 6 of 10 passes for 106 yards and three touchdowns. After missing on his first two attempts, the junior’s first completion was to himself when the ball was batted back in his face.
Calhan Fairchild was theonlyreceiverwithmore than one catch, finishing with two for 25 yards.
After touching the ball just four times in the previous game against Abilene TLCA, Hill carried on seven ofAlbany’s first eight offensive plays. He had 90 yards, andAlbany led 20-0 before another Lion gained a yard.
One area whereAlbany did not excel was third down, failing to convert on three attempts. The Lions made up for it by converting on fourth down each time.
Albany’s second drive faced fourth-and-4 at the Eagles 10. Hill ran for 9 yards and scored on the next play.
The third series faced fourth-and-15 at the 32. Chambers completed a 25-yard pass to Hill, who scored on the next play.
The next score, Hill’s second 7-yarder, came on Albany’s longest drive of the first half – six plays, 67 yards. The possession saw just two second downs and no third downs.
Chambers heated up on the next series, hitting Calhan Fairchild for a 12yard gain before connecting with Cason Fairchild on a 38-yard score.
The Lion defense set up the next two touchdowns. Fumble recoveries by Calhan Fairchild and Luke Marshall gave Albany the ball at the Eldorado 18 and 22. Marshall’s recovery came on the play after Eldorado’s longest gain.
After the first takeaway, Albany faced fourth-andfive, but the younger Fairchild pulled in a 13-yard pass from Chambers for the score.
The next possession lasted just one play as Branson Beal took a short pass to the end zone, eluding almost every Eldorado defender as he cut back across the field.
ThatgaveAlbanya47-0 lead with 4:48 to go in the first half and invoked a running clock the rest of the way.
The Lions needed just two plays to add to the lead in the third quarter with Hill notching his fifth TD of the night.
Albany’s last scoring drive was a combined effort between varsity and JV players. Jaxson Hoel’s 24-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter was the end of the night for the regulars. The JV then capped a six-play, 68-yard drive, overcoming a holding penalty in the process. Breylon Billington raced 23 yards for the score.
The JV handled the final defensive series, throwing Eldorado back 6 yards and forcing one last punt.
Facing Celeste
Albany is in the area round for the for the 21st consecutive season and 25th time in the last 28 seasons.
Celeste (8-3), the third seed out of District 8-2A Division II, advanced with a 41-12 win over Seymour, the only opponent the Blue Devils have in common with Albany. The Lions defeated the Panthers 4114 in Week 3.
“They played really well against Seymour,” Faith said. “They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now.”
Friday’swinneradvances to the regional round to face the winner of the area playoffbetweenNo.6Wink and Muenster.
Celeste, located north of GreenvilleinHuntCounty, is in the playoffs for the sixth time since 2015, but has advanced past area just once since reaching back-to-back championship games in 2001 and 2002.
The latter season ended with a loss in the final to Petrolia, which had defeated Albany in bi-district. That was the last time the Lions failed to advance beyond the first round.
Celeste relies heavily – as in 85 percent of its plays – on a rushing attack that has produced 3,231 yards and 48 touchdowns. Anthony Powell has run for 1,645 yards and 25 TDs. Quarterback Brock Stewart has 715 yards and runningbackJasonMinter add 672 yards.
“They’ve got a good football team, big up front,” Faith said. “A power-running football team. They have two good backs, and the quarterback can run the ball.”
Albany has outscored opponents 191-0 over the last three games and 3257 over the last six. The Lions are averaging 46.1 points per game while allowing 6.9.
Ticket Information Tickets at Springtown are $6 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets may be purchased online at www. springtownisd.net/page/ online-box-office2.
Tickets may also be purchased at the gate. Cash will be accepted. THSCA, district and senior citizen passes will be honored.
Albany will be the visiting team with fan seating on the east side of the stadium. It will be the first time the Lions have been the visiting team in a playoff game since the area round in 2021, a span of 10 postseason games.
Directions
Porcupine Stadium is located at 495 POJO Drive in Springtown.
Take U.S. Highway 180 east to Weatherford, then take FM 51 north to Springtown.
In Springtown, turn left onto POJO Road. The stadium is behind the high school.
