Albany to host Hawley in 2nd scrimmage

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions got their first taste of outside competition Friday with a controlled scrimmage against the Coleman Bluecats at Coleman’s Hufford Field.

The Lions get their final preseason test Thursday (tonight) against the Hawley Bearcats at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium, with action starting at 6:00 p.m.

Coleman scored the only touchdown of Friday’s scrimmage early in the proceedings before defenses took over the rest of the way.

“It was a pretty physical, defensive battle,” Albany head coach Denney Faith said. “They scored in their first couple of plays.”

The coach said that Coleman broke loose on a long run on their first play of the scrimmage that set them up for the score. 

“After that, it was pretty much a defensive battle,” he said. “Both offenses are a little behind defense right now, and it’s just going to take a little time to get everything going.”

Faith said it is normal for defenses to be ahead of offenses at this stage. He said Coleman loaded up against the run, something the Lions needed to see.

“The things they were doing defensively – they had an eight-man front against us and played straight man coverage in the secondary – it was going to be tough to run the ball against them anyway,” he said. “We could have come out and thrown every down, but that’s not what we wanted to do. We wanted to run the ball against them some, but it was going to be tough with the defense they were playing against us.”

Overall, Faith said, it was a productive outing for Albany.

“We thought it was a good first scrimmage because it was the first time we really got to have any live action,” he said. “I think by the time the scrimmage was over, we’d gotten used to going live again and playing with a little more intensity.”

Perhaps the most significant factor, the coach said, was coming out of the encounter with no injuries.

“We came out healthy,” Faith said. “It was a good, physical scrimmage that we needed, and fortunately everybody came out okay, it looks like, except for some bumps and bruises, nothing that’s going to keep anybody out.”

Faith said the scrimmage highlighted the areas Albany needs to develop as the team prepares for its Aug. 27 season opener at Colorado City.

“There are still some things that we’re going to keep working on,” he said. “We’ve got some guys who are in a little bit different position than what they’ve played in the past. We’re going to keep evaluating those.” 

According to Faith, the coaches will shuffle some things around for the scrimmage this week just to get the right combination. 

“That’s why we have these scrimmages and predistrict games,” he said. “I think we’ll be ready by the time district starts.”

The Lions open District 8-2A Division II play Oct. 8 at Meridian.

Faith said stated that the team is about where he expects it to be at this point of the preseason.

“We’ve got kids in new positions and new spots,” he said. “I think we’re coming along well.”

Tonight’s scrimmage will begin at 6:00 p.m. with the junior varsity. Faith said final details of the scrimmage format were still being worked out.

“I haven’t talked to (Hawley coach Mitch Ables),” Faith said, “but we’ll probably wind up with some kind of live quarter at the end with the varsity kids.”

Junior Varsity

In the JV portion of Friday’s scrimmage, Albany outscored Coleman 2-1 with Cason Fairchild reaching the end zone twice for the Lions.

Fairchild had one touchdown rushing and one receiving on a pass from Lute Wheeler.

“I thought they played really well for a first scrimmage,” Faith said. “Ashton Bailey ran the ball well at running back. Defensively, I thought we played well.”