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Albany to open against C-City

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By Donnie A. Lucas

Head football coach Denney Faith thinks each and every game is important, especially season openers.

But the Lions’ first regular season outing promises special significance both for Faith and the Lions.

Albany will travel to Colorado City on Friday for the season opener against the 3A Wolves, with the Lions hoping to secure a win on the road that would give Faith his 300th career victory. It’s a milestone that Faith is reluctant to talk about, but it is important because he will become just the 12th Texas high school coach to reach the mark in the history of the sport.

Kickoff in Colorado City is set for 7:30 p.m.

“We want to start out right with a win – it just sets that tone for the season,” Faith said. “We aren’t worried about setting records, just winning games. If we take care of business, the rest will happen when it happens.”

The Lions are also counting down towards the 700th win over the history of the program. Currently, Albany sits at 692 wins, making it very feasible to reach the team’s own milestone during the 2019 season.

“Colorado City does a good job of running an option offense with a big fullback and good quarterback who can also run the ball,” he said. “Our main goal is to try to limit our mistakes. This is the first chance to really see our guys in a live situation, which is always a challenge.”

The Lions got off to a rough start last year, losing all five pre-district games before sweeping district for the title and advancing to the fifth round of the playoffs.

The JV Lions will open on Thursday (today) at Nail Stadium, hosting Colorado City’s JV at 6:00 p.m. 

There are no junior high games this week.

Anson Scrimmage

The Lions played well in scrimmage action last Friday against the visiting Anson Tigers.

“I thought we improved over our first scrimmage,” Faith said, “but there are areas we need to work on.”

The varsity scored three times to Anson’s one touchdown in the controlled portion of the scrimmage.

B.J. Morris ran in a 20-yard reception from Ben West for a tally, while Jaheim Newton scored on a five-yard run. Robert Bailey broke a 65-yard scoring run.

Albany took the live quarter of play, 1-0.

Morris caught a 10-yard pass for the score.

“The backs ran hard and the offensive line blocked well,” said Faith. “Ben West made some good decisions at quarterback, and he ran the ball several times.”

The coach said that the defense needs to improve.

“We need to work on tackling better,” he said. “Also, we need to be more efficient at stopping our opponent on third down.”

Faith added that the Lions gave up some big plays on fourth down.

“Overall, I was happy with the effort the guys gave,” Faith said. “But we still have a lot to work on.”

JV Results

The JV Lions played to a 1-0 advantage over the visiting Tigers during their scrimmage.

Malachi Gueldner scored on a 70-yard pass play for the lone tally.

“This was a much better scrimmage than when we played in Coleman,” coach Rod Britting said. “The guys are starting to figure it out.”