Albany rolls over Olney 55-6
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions didn’t have very many opportunities on offense last Friday in their final non-district outing.
It turned out they didn’t need as many as they had.
Despite running just 21 plays and losing two turnovers, the Lions improved to 5-0 with a 55-6 homecoming victory over the Olney Cubs at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.
“We didn’t have one bad snap, and we went to a little bit different strategy on our kicks and did a better job of not giving up so many yards on our kick coverage,” Lions head coach Denney Faith said. “Those were things we concentrated on during the week.”
Cole Chapman ran for two touchdowns and passed for a third, and Jaheim Newton scored twice to lead an offense that averaged 16 yards per play in compiling 336 total yards. Adam Hill caught Chapman’s TD pass, London Fuentes returned a punt to score for the second game in a row, and Robert Bailey and Samuel Rosas added touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.
“They were playing really slow, using the clock,” Faith said. “It can get frustrating at times, because you want to play a little quicker than that, but I thought our guys handled it really well.”
Faith felt good about the way Albany defended the option and took care of individual responsibilities.
The Lion defense kept Olney’s triple-option attack under wraps, allowing 151 total yards on 56 plays. Linebacker Brooks Neece led the Lions with a season-high 10 total tackles. Taren Farmer added nine, with Ryan Mark getting 8.5 and Hill six.
“I thought Brooks really played well defensively,” Faith said. “He should have a lot of tackles against that type of offense. Everything’s right at him.”
Faith said a big part of the defense’s success was keeping Olney in long-yardage situations. The Cubs, who had a 31-minute edge in time of possession, finished three of 16 on third downs, needing an average of 6.9 yards in such situations.
“First down is really important when you play an offense like that,” he said. “They’re going for it on fourth down 80 percent of the time, so if you give up too much on first down, it really puts you behind the chains.”
A key factor was taking away the dive while also containing outside, forcing Olney quarterback Gatlin Guy to turn up for minimal gains.
“We just pinched it in and pushed them back,” said Lions defensive tackle Rylan Roberson. “They like to run down the middle, and we kept them from doing that. We practiced all week and kept on working hard.”
In contrast, Albany faced only one third down the entire game. The Lions scored three times on the first play of a possession, and two other drives took just two plays. The longest possession of the night lasted six plays after a holding penalty wiped out a 30-yard run by Newton, who finished with 127 yards on eight carries, including a “dazzling” 53-yard score on Albany’s first offensive snap of the second quarter following an Olney punt.
“It got our energy up,” Chapman said of the quick strikes. “The defense got hyped up to make plays for us out there and get us the ball back.”
Faith commented that the offensive line did a good job of blocking, with the backs giving good effort and running hard.
“We’re getting quite a few kids a lot of playing time,” Faith said. “Everybody’s getting some experience.”
District Opener
With their final dress rehearsal behind them, the Lions now turn their attention to the games that count.
Albany visits Meridian at 7:00 p.m. Friday to start District 8-2A Division II play.
“The season really starts now, and we really stress that,” Faith said. “We talked about how preparation time is over now. You can’t make mistakes; you can’t have bad snaps or a bunch of penalties because now you’re playing for gold balls.”
Faith said the intensity and concentration needs to be even better over the next four games.
“We tell our players to split the season into three parts – preparation, then district, then post-district,” he said. “We want the district championship, and it all starts with getting that first district win.”
The Yellow Jackets (1-5) picked up their first victory of the season last week, beating Waco Texas Wind 47-19.
“Meridian has been struggling a little bit playing a lot of young kids, but this is a district game, and we’re going to prepare for it like it’s the toughest one of the season,” Faith said. “From here on out, every week is more important than the last.”
Ticket Info
Advance tickets may be purchased online at meridian-isd.ticketleap.com. Adult tickets are $5 and student tickets are $3.
Tickets may also be purchased at the gate. Gates will open at 6:30 p.m.
Directions
Yellow Jacket Stadium is located at 611 F St. in Meridian.
Take State Highway 6 to Meridian. In Meridian, turn left onto West Morgan Street to 7th Street (State Highway 174). Turn left onto 7th Street to F Street. Turn left onto F Street. The stadium will be on the left.
