Friday night football starts with Lion win
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lion varsity football team opened the 2020 season at home last Friday, blanking the Colorado City Wolves 48-0 in a non-district bout.
Just over 500 Albany fans braved hot August weather to see the opener, a number still well below the 1,000 fan limit at 50 percent capacity on the home side due to COVID-19 restrictions set by the state. Only 140 fans came through visitors gate, also well below the 270 limit.
The Lions are at home again this Friday, hosting the Dublin Lions in another pre-district game. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. at Robert Nail Stadium.
Fans will once again be restricted to the 1,000 seat limit on the home side on a first-come, first-served basis. No admission is being charged this season in order to keep contact to a minimum in order to help contain the coronavirus. However, fans are encouraged to drop money into a donation bucket to help offset the cost to hire officials and cover utility costs.
Masks are not currently required in Albany since the county has fewer than 20 active cases, but face coverings are recommended, especially at the concession stand and restroom area where social distancing is harder to maintain.
This Friday will also serve as Senior Night for the players and cheerleaders, with parents escorting senior students onto the field at 6:40 p.m.
Albany head coach Denney Faith said that he is expecting a competitive game against the visiting Dublin team.
“They have had a good team for the last few seasons, really turning their program around,” he said. “They will be playing with confidence after a big win over DeLeon last week.”
Dublin opened their season with a 33-7 victory over the DeLeon Bearcats.
Faith said that he expects to see Dublin run the ball some but go to the air for most of their offense.
“They have some really big kids as usual, and they have couple of good receivers we are going to have to contain,” Faith said.
Big Win in Opener
Faith was happy with the win over Colorado City last week to start the season.
“The kids played well, and we saw some good things on both offense and defense,” he said. “Our defense only allowed them 41 yards of offense, while we were able to put up over 425 yards of offense. That says a lot about how we dominated the game.”
Faith said the Albany offense was very balanced, rushing for 250 yards and passing for 178.
“We ran the ball effectively, and the offensive line did a great job of blocking. Jaheim (Newton) rushed for over 150 yards, and Barrett (Beal) did a good job running the offense for the first time.”
Likewise, Faith commended the defense for a stellar game.
“Our seven guys up front really played well, and the secondary tackled well for a first game,” Faith said. “We really pursued the ball well.”
On special teams, the coach praised Ryder Wilkins for kicking five of seven extra points and said the punt return team and kick coverage both did a good job.
“We had too many penalties, which we will clean up,” the coach said. “And there were a couple of bad exchanges between the center and the quarterback, which we need to fix.”
Faith added that the team is still not in game shape.
“The heat was a big factor, but we need to keep improving our conditioning,” he said. A lot of that was not having a second scrimmage to help get us into playing shape sooner.”
Scoring Summary
Albany – Brooks Neece scores on 1-yard carry. The PAT attempt by Ryder Wilkins no good. 1st quarter - 9:03. Score 6-0.
Albany - Barrett Beal scores on 19-yard run. PAT by Wilkins is good. 1st quarter-1:38. Score 13-0.
Albany – Jaheim Newton runs for 9-yard touchdown. PAT by Wilkins is good. 2nd quarter-10:30. Score 20-0.
Albany - Newton scores on 9-yard run. PAT by Wilkins is good. 2nd- quarter-4:01. Score 27-0.
Albany - Beal pass complete to Cole Chapman for 29-yard touchdown. 2nd quarter-24 seconds remaining. Score 34-0.
Albany - Newton scores on a 56-yard run. Wilkins kicks PAT. 3rd quarter-11:07. Score 41-0.
Albany – Robert Bailey runs for 11-yard touchdown. PAT no good. 4th quarter-6:22. Score 47-0.
