7th grade wins, 8th grade ties
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Albany Cubs traveled to Peaster last Thursday, with the eighth grade playing to a 22-22 tie and the seventh grade bringing home a 26-8 win.
Both teams are open this week but will return to the gridiron next Thursday to host Stamford starting at 4:30 p.m. with the seventh grade. The eighth grade game will follow at approximately 5:30 p.m. and the JV will take the field at about 6:45 p.m.
Game Details
The seventh grade boosted their record to 3-1 with the win over Peaster.
Dalton Richards scored the first two touchdowns for the Cubs on runs of 25 and 43 yards. Both two-point attempts failed.
Ashton Bailey scored the third tally on a one-yard run, putting the score at 18-8.
Jace Tinkle caused a fumble that Richards recovered to set up the final Albany touchdown. Andre Gjerpe carried the ball the final 10 yards on a run, and the two-point pass from Branson Beal to Asher Brown gave the Cubs a 26-8 win.
“I thought our backs ran hard,” coach David Fairchild said. “We really played well on defense, too. Our interior guys – Landon Balliew, Laithe Leech, Lane Morgan and Jace Tinkle – played a good game on defense, and both Brown and Gperpe had good games at linebacker.”
The eighth grade Cubs had to settle for a 22-22 tie in Peaster.
Albany fell behind 8-0 early in the first quarter, but the Cubs went to work on the ground with Lute Wheeler getting the score on a one-yard carry. Wheeler then hit Adam Hill in the end zone for the two-point conversion to knot the game at 8-8.
The Hounds scored in the second period to take a 16-8 lead to the locker room at the half.
Albany used the ground game in the third period to move the ball down the field to score on a fourth down pass from Hill to Wheeler to draw within two. The attempt for the two-pointer failed.
The Hounds returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to increase the lead to 22-14.
Albany again mounted a ground campaign to march down the field. Hill scored on a dive over the goal. Hill also caught the two-point pass to knot the final score at 22-22.
“Our running attack on offense was spearheaded by Adam Hill and Lanxton Viertel, along with offensive linemen Sterlin Hobbs, Cort Peterson, Cole Read, Zane Waggoner, Kolt Koemel, and tight end Tyler Chapman,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “Lute Wheeler also made some big throws to keep drives alive throughout the game.”
The coach said the Cubs did an outstanding job of controlling the ball and the clock through the game.
“Peaster ran six plays on offense during the entire game,” the coach said. “Our offensive line was our best defense as they kept Peaster’s offense off the field for most of the game.”
