Junior high teams post dual wins
By Sam Waller
The Albany Junior High Cubs football teams made the most of their first home games of the season, with both seventh and eighth grade squads beating Hawley on Thursday, Sept. 14 at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.
The Cubs make their second home appearance Thursday, Sept. 21 (today), when they host Comanche. The seventh grade will start at 4:30 p.m. with the eighth grade to follow.
Seventh Grade
The seventh grade Cubs defeated Hawley 24-8.
Albany gained 191 total yards despite running just 12 plays on offense. Hawley totaled 101 yards on 32 plays.
Lyle Wheeler was 4 of 4 passing for 74 yards and rushed for 58 yards. Slayton Parsons rushed for 57 yards, and Blake Britting had 60 yards receiving.
Wheeler opened the scoring with a 30-yard run with 2:38 to go in the first quarter and ran for the conversion.
Hawley put together a long drive to tie the score at 8-8 with just six seconds left in the half. That was all the time Albany needed as Wheeler connected with Britting for a 53-yard TD as time expired. Sam Tidwell caught Wheeler’s conversion pass to give Albany a 16-8 halftime lead.
An interception by Britting set up Albany’s last score. Parsons raced 52 yards with 2:36 to go in the third quarter, and Wheeler ran for the PAT.
Eighth Grade
Clay Chapman had a hand in every Albany point as the eighth grade Cubs blanked Hawley 32-0.
Albany finished with 198 total yards on 20 plays while holding Hawley to 95 total yards. Jakobi Roberson rushed for 65 yards on eight carries. Chapman was 3 of 4 passing for 43 yards and ran twice for 58 yards. Bennett Neece accounted for 40 yards rushing and receiving.
Albany scored the only points it would need on its opening possession. Neece took a short pass from Chapman and rumbled in for a 23-yard touchdown with 4:58 to go in the first quarter. The duo hooked up again for the conversion.
Early in the second quarter, Roberson forced a fumble that Rush Kidd recovered. Albany cashed in as Chapman ran 28 yards to score with 7:21 remaining in the half. Chapman also ran for the conversion.
On their next series, Graham Ceder helped the Cubs push the lead to 24-0, pulling in an 18-yard pass from Chapman with 3:13 left in the half. Neece caught the conversion pass.
Hawley ate up most of the third quarter with a drive deep into Albany territory. The series came up empty when Chapman intercepted a pass at the 1-yard line and ran it all the way back for a 99-yard touchdown with 58 seconds left in the quarter. Neece again caught the conversion pass for the final points.
