Lions to face Muenster in regional round
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The Albany Lions had to do a little more work than they have recently in their Class 2A Division II area playoff against the Celeste Blue Devils on Friday, Nov. 17, but the end result was familiar.
Albany defeated Celeste 56-0 on a misty night at Springtown’s Porcupine Stadium to advance to the regional round for the 14th time in 15 seasons.
The Lions (12-0) will face familiar postseason foe Muenster at 1:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 24 at Kangaroo Stadium in Weatherford.
Against Celeste (8-4), Albany actually punted for the first time in four games and allowed positive yardage for the first time in three. That didn’t keep the Lions from turning thegameintoanotherrunaway with seven consecutive scoring drives.
In recording their fourth consecutive shutout and sixth in seven games, the Lions held Celeste to 50 total yards and eight first downs. It was the fourth consecutive time an Albany opponent has failed to gain 100 yards.
Fivefirstdownsand58yards came on the Blue Devils’ last two possessions. Celeste came in averaging 293.7 rushing yards per game, but finished with 21 on 37 attempts.
“Celeste is a running football team, and we had to put a lot of people at the line of scrimmage and be able to tackle,” Lions head coach Denney Faith said. “They have a quality running back (Anthony Powell) that we knew we’d have to shut down. Defensively, we did a great job.”
Powell had 76 yards on 17 carries.
Five Albany defenders reached double figures in tackles and 19 recorded a defensive statistic. Jaxson Hoel was in on 18 tackles, followed by Wyatt Windham (16), Luke Marshall (14), Tyler Chapman (12), and Zane Waggoner (10). Cason Fairchild, CalhanFairchild,andHuffman Heatly had interceptions as the Lions matched their season high for takeaways.
“We have a lot of talented guys on defense and a lot of hard-minded guys,” Hoel said. “They’re just not going to quit. That’s probably the best attribute we have.”
Offensively,Albany finished with 477 total yards, averaging 9.5 yards per play and 10.3 yards per rush. Adam Hill gained 165 yards on 15 carries with four touchdowns and caught two passes for 25 yards and a score, his second five-TD game in the playoffs. Branson Beal ran for 110 yards and a
See Football, pg. 2B
Photo By Julia Vega score on just four carries.
Chip Chambers was 12 of 17 passing for 135 yards and two TDs. Cason Fairchild had seven receptions for 56 yards.
While the offense got rolling after the first quarter, it was defense that provided the spark that ignited the scoring explosion. With the game still scoreless after two possessions for each team, Cason Fairchild grabbed the first interception and returned it 31 yards to score with 2:23 to go in the first quarter.
“We’ve been doing that all year,” Faith said. “The defense has sparked the offense by giving us short fields. Cason’s pick kind of jump-started us and got us going.”
The Lions then put together three consecutive seven-play drives to end the half.
Hill added the next two scores moments after having TDsnegatedbyholding penalties. An 8-yard run wasreplacedbyan18-yard reception on the next play as Hill reached around a defender to make the grab. A68-yardrunwasmadeup for with a 77-yard run two plays later.
The second scoring drive saw the Lions go 93 yards, converting on fourth-and-1 from the 16 when Waggoner, the punter, lined up under center and caused Celeste to jump offside.
Leading 21-0 late in the half, Albany took command on a 3-yard TD catch by Chapman with 30 seconds left in the half. Thedefenseforcedanother three-and-out with Faith calling timeout after each play to force the Blue Devils to punt.
With 1:24 remaining and no timeouts, Albany covered 58 yards in 54 seconds. Chambers executed the two-minute drill to perfection, hitting Calhan Fairchildfora43-yardgain on the first play.
“Every Thursday, we work the two-minute drill at the end of practice,” Chambers said. “Coach Faith knows how important it is. We really locked in and did what we were told to.”
With Albany receiving the second-half kickoff, Faith said the Lions had a chance to put the game out of reach.
“Goingup28-0andthen having the ball to start, we had a chance for a 14-point swing,” he said. “Getting that touchdown was really big.”
The Lions made the strategy pay off with Hill capping a five-play, 75yard drive to start the half with a 1-yard run. Beal popped loose for 57 yards on the first play, then Albany caught a break the play before the score.
Onthird-and-5fromthe 13, Chambers mishandled the snap, but Hill gathered up the ball and flipped a pass to Hoel, who turned it into a 12-yard gain.
The Lions needed just two plays for the next score as Hill ran for a 62-yard TD.After stopping Celeste on downs at its 46, Hill capped a five-play drive with a 7-yard TD run. Hoel carried three times for 34 yards to set up the score.
Calhan Fairchild’s interception on the next series led to a four-play, 57-yard drive that Beal ended with a 43-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Celeste answered with its best drive of the night, moving to the Albany 30 before Heatly’s interception preservedtheshutout.
Facing Muenster
This is the third consecutive year the Lions andHornetshavematched up in the playoffs and the eighth time since 2003.
Muenster (8-4) advanced by defeating No. 6 Wink 42-14, one of three area games that saw a team ranked in the top 10 eliminated.
The Hornets were the second seed out of District 8-2A DII behind No. 4 Collinsville.
Faith said he expects a stiff test as all remaining playoff teams either won their district or beat a district champion to advance.
“Muenster is always going to have a good football team,” he said. “They’re going to be very disciplined and play hard. They’re not as big as some of the teams we’ve seen, but they’re very quick and utilize that well.”
Ticket Info
Tickets will be $6 for adults and $4 for students.
Tickets must be purchased online at www. weatherfordisdkangaroos. com/HTtickets.
Albany will be the home team with fans sitting on the north (press box) side.
Directions
Kangaroo Stadium is located at 250 Eureka St. in Weatherford.
If taking U.S. Highway 180 to Weatherford, exit right onto South Main at the Parker County Courthouse. Go 0.6 miles south to Eureka Street. Turn left onto Eureka. Home-side parking will be to the right.
If taking Interstate 20, take Exit 408 to State Highway171,whichmerges into South Main, and turnleft.Gonorthsixmiles to Eureka Street and turn right.
