Albany to meet Muenster at area
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions took the first step in the Class 2A Division II football playoffs with a 49-13 victory over the Eldorado Eagles on Friday, Nov. 11, at Sweetwater’s Mustang Bowl.
The Lions (9-2) look to extend their season for another week when they take on the Muenster Hornets in the area round at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17 (tonight) at Graham’s Newton Field.
Against Eldorado (4-7), Adam Hill rushed for three touchdowns, Cole Chapman connected with Cason Fairchild on a pair of scoring passes, and London Fuentes scored twice on kick returns as Albany advanced to the area round for the 20th year in a row.
“I was really pleased with the intensity we started out with,” Lions head coach Denney Faith said. “Once you get to the playoffs, everything is magnified a little bit more. I thought our kids rose to the occasion, and even though Eldorado was the fourth-place team in their district, I felt like we came out and played extremely well.”
The Lions managed 279 total yards despite being without running back Coy Lefevre, who missed the game because of the flu. Chapman finished 5 of 8 passing for 105 yards. Hill rushed for 76 yards on nine carries, and sophomore Branson Beal added 70 yards on eight carries. Fairchild had three receptions for 77 yards, with Fuentes catching two passes for 28 yards.
“There were some things we thought we could against Eldorado that we had worked on, so we used some of those,” Faith said. “We like to show some of that stuff for our next opponent, too – gives them something they have to look at and work on.”
Albany offensive lineman Cole Read said Eldorado’s use of multiple fronts was a challenge Albany was able to handle.
“They were shifting guys around, going with three-, four- and five-man fronts,” Read said. “It takes the linemen and even the running backs into the blocking.”
The Eagles were held in check most of the night before two long touchdown runs in the final 5:20 boosted Eldorado to 186 total yards. Before that, the Lions came up with four takeaways – fumble recoveries by Fuentes and Samuel Rosas and interceptions by Fairchild and Wyatt Windham – that led to three Albany scores.
Jayden Lucas led Albany with 13 tackles, including two for loss. Windham added 11 stops, including 10 solo, with Tye Edgar and Beal each in on five stops.
One area the Lion defense was able to cope with was having Eldorado, which based out of the flexbone, put the ball in the air 21 times. Albany allowed six completions for just 21 yards, getting 10 pass breakups, two sacks, and seven hurries.
“We thought they were a running team; then we watched film and saw that they threw it a lot,” said Fairchild, who joined Fuentes with three breakups. “We ran a lot of different formations, and we kind of shut them down.”
Things started going Albany’s way almost immediately. On the second play of the game, Fuentes fell on an errant option pitch at the Eldorado 10-yard line, and Hill muscled into the end zone on the next play.
“It set a great tone for the game,” Fuentes said of the early takeaway. “I came out there and was playing fast just like in practice. I read through my guard and just tried to make a play to get us going.”
Penalties stalled Albany’s second possession with a 48-yard TD run by Hill being called back, but his 33-yarder on the next series stood.
Albany doubled its lead with two touchdowns 30 seconds apart in the second quarter. Fairchild’s interception led to Hill’s 5-yard TD run. Windham’s interception came two plays after the kickoff and was returned 37 yards to the Eldorado 18, setting up Fairchild’s first score on the next play.
The Eagles put together a nine-play drive that reached the Albany 39 before stalling. The punt pinned Albany at its 14 with 2:19 left in the half, but two big plays got the Lions into the end zone. On third-and-2 from the 22, Chapman kept for 21 yards then hit Fairchild on a slip screen on the next play that resulted in a 57-yard score with 49 seconds to go.
“Eldorado was playing their safeties really deep,” Faith said. “The game plan was to try to get to the edge in the passing game. We’ve got good enough receivers that if we can get the ball in their hands out in open space, they’re all capable of making somebody miss and getting a good gain.”
Fuentes capped Albany’s scoring in the first 2:08 of the third quarter before the offense took a snap. He returned the kickoff 77 yards to score, then a few minutes later ran back an Eldorado punt 51 yards for another.
“We work on special teams every day in practice,” Fuentes said. “We work on setting that wall up to the right. They set it up well.”
Both Eldorado touchdowns came against Albany’s JV defense. Jason Covarrubiaz, who took over at quarterback after starter Omar Barrajas was knocked out in the first quarter, raced 71 yards on a keeper to get the Eagles on the board. Nino Tambunga went 76 yards on the first play of Eldorado’s next possession. The two plays accounted for nearly 80 percent of the Eagles’ offensive output.
Facing Muenster
This will be the seventh playoff meeting between the teams since 2003 and a rematch of last year’s 34-21 Albany victory in the regional round.
“It’s like playing a district game,” Faith said. “We know them really well, and they know us well. They’re doing the same things with really good athletes.”
The winner advances to the regional round to face the winner of tonight’s area playoff between No. 4 Wink and No. 9 Santo.
“Muenster played a really tough predistrict,” Faith said. “They had a very difficult schedule, so I think the record is deceiving.”
The Hornets (6-5) advanced through the first round with a 38-14 victory against Archer City. Muenster battled through a tough nondistrict schedule with losses to Bells, Paradise, and Pottsboro, all of which are still alive in the Class 3A playoffs. District losses were to No. 7 Collinsville and Santo.
“Their kids are going to play hard and be smart,” Faith said. “It’s always a challenge to play them.”
