Cubs split Sept. 22 bouts
By Sam Waller
The Albany Junior High Cubs football teams split their games Thursday, Sept. 22 at Comanche with the seventh grade winning 22-18 and the eighth grade suffering a 20-6 loss.
The teams have this week off before hosting Miles on Thursday, Oct. 6 at Nail Stadium. The action gets underway at 4:30 p.m. with the seventh grade game.
Seventh Grade
Clay Chapman ran for two touchdowns and passed for one as the seventh grade Cubs improved to 4-0.
Chapman opened the scoring with a 2-yard run to take an early 6-0 lead.
After Comanche tied the score, Aiden Vickers pulled in a 7-yard TD pass, and Jakobi Word ran for the conversion for a 14-6 lead.
The Indians scored twice to take an 18-14 lead, but Chapman provided the deciding score with a 19-yard run. Graham Ceder caught the conversion pass for the final margin.
“Offensively, Bennett Neece had some long, tough runs,” coach David Fairchild said. “Chapman and Word ran the ball well, too. Senio Togia and Ryder Smith had good games up front.”
On defense, Slayten Kelly had an interception.
“Neece and Chapman had several big tackles,” Fairchild said. “Word, Ceder, and Cash Edgar were in on several plays.”
Eighth Grade
Jack Nail returned a punt 40 yards in the fourth quarter for Albany’s lone score as the eighth grade Cubs dropped to 2-2.
“Offensively, we moved the ball at times; we just couldn’t finish any drives,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “I thought our backs ran hard and were able to move the chains throughout the game. We threw the ball more this week than we have and just missed two big plays that would have made this game much closer.”
Comanche scored a touchdown in each of the first three quarters to build a 20-0 lead.
“Defensively, we did some good things,” Peacock said. “I think we were able to take a lot from this game for us to build on, especially with our technique. We did some things we were able to get away with against other teams, that we weren’t able to against Comanche.”
Peacock said the team gave a good effort, continuing to battle even after falling behind.
