Albany to face Santo Friday after week off

By Sam Waller

After a week off, the Albany Lions face their biggest test of the season Friday when the Santo Wildcats visit Robert Nail Memorial Stadium in a showdown for first place in District 8-2A Division II.

Kickoff is 7:00 p.m.

Albany (7-0 overall, 2-0 district) and Santo (8-0, 2-0) share the district lead after the Wildcats defeated Hico 34-14 last week.

Santo’s victory, combined with Cross Plains’ 60-12 win over Meridian, officially clinched a playoff berth for Albany and Santo. Cross Plains, Hico, and Meridian all have two district losses with Hico and Meridian playing this week, guaranteeing one of those teams will have three.

The Albany-Santo winner will clinch the district’s No. 1 playoff seed.

“This is the district championship right here,” Lions head coach Denney Faith said. “You wouldn’t want it any other way than to play it on your home field on Senior Night. It’s going to be a big game for our seniors, a big game for our team.”

Faith said the open date offered Albany a chance to get fully healthy for Friday’s game.

“A lot of the week was rest and recuperation, and we spent a lot of time defensively looking at the things Santo does,” he said. “We’re not going to try to do anything new offensively – just going to do what we usually do, try to heal up, and be fresh.”

Faith said Santo’s flexbone attack poses a challenge for the Lions, but it helps that Albany has seen the scheme once this season. Olney, which employs a similar offense, is the only opponent to have rushed for 100 yards against the Lions.

“That definitely helped us, especially getting lined up right,” Faith said. “They’re going to do some things formation-wise to get you outflanked, different formations to try to get you into a position where they have numbers against you.”

Through seven games, Albany is averaging 487.9 total yards per game (312 rushing, 175.9 passing) and 57.7 points per game.

Faith said Albany’s offensive balance has been a key factor.

“If you can do both (run and pass), then you can adjust,” he said. “When they try to load the box, we’re very capable of exploiting the secondary. If they want to double somebody, we feel confident running the ball.”

The Lions posted season highs of 645 total yards and 84 points against Meridian. Albany rushed for a season-high 438 yards in its last outing against Hico. The Lions’ top passing game was 255 yards against Dublin.

Jaheim Newton leads the Lions in rushing with 796 yards and 10 touchdowns. Newton, who sat out the last two games nursing an ankle injury, is averaging 13.5 yards per carry. Albany averages 10.25 yards per carry as a team.

Cole Chapman is 64 of 90 passing (71.1 percent) for 1,192 yards with 19 touchdowns and two interceptions. He’s also rushed for 383 yards and five scores.

Three running backs – Robert Bailey (371 yards, five TDs), Coy Lefevre (236 yards, four TDs), and Samuel Rosas (200 yards, two TDs) – have run for at least 200 yards. All three had season-high rushing totals against Hico.

Fullback Brooks Neece has rushed for 116 yards and seven touchdowns.

Cooper Fairchild is the leading receiver with 29 catches for 425 yards and six touchdowns. Tight end Adam Hill has 13 receptions for 316 yards and six TDs, while London Fuentes has caught 12 passes for 231 yards and four scores.

Fuentes, who also kicks, leads the team in scoring with 86 points, including 44 successful kicks, a “pick six,” and a couple of punts returned for TDs in addition to his four passing touchdowns. Newton has scored 60 points and Neece 54.

Defensively, Albany is allowing 116.6 total yards per game (47.7 rushing, 68.9 passing) and has given up just 36 points total.

More than 40 percent of the yardage (335 total yards, 263 passing) and the majority of the scoring (21 points) was recorded by Dublin in the season opener.

“Our defense is playing fast with a lot of intensity,” Faith said. “The level is going to go up this week, so that means we’ve got to be even more intense.”

The defense has recorded three shutouts and did not allow a score in two other games. The unit has given up just one touchdown since the Dublin game.

Defensive end Taren Farmer is the leading tackler with 40.5 total tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. Neece has 27 tackles, and Ryan Mark has 24.

Linebacker Koy Cauble has a team-high two sacks among 4.5 tackles for loss.

Fuentes and Bailey each have two interceptions, while Hill has broken up five passes and Rosas four. Opponents are completing just 47.2 percent of their passes (51 of 108).

Albany is plus-seven in turnover margin, having recorded 11 takeaways.

“Santo is going to be a big challenge for our defense,” Faith said. “We’re looking forward to it.”

Senior Night

Football and cheer seniors and their parents will be introduced before the start of the game.

Players and family members should gather in the west end zone at 6:30 p.m. with ceremonies to start at 6:40 p.m.