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JV picks up Stamford game

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By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions JV football team pulled away in the second half last Thursday to defeat Stamford 18-8 in a hastily arranged game at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

The Lions were scheduled to play Colorado City, but the Wolves were forced to pull out the night before because of COVID-19 issues. The Bulldogs stepped in to fill the void for the Lions.

The JV is set to play Dublin at Nail Stadium tonight (Thursday), starting about 6:00 p.m. following the junior high games.

Stamford Game

“Playing Stamford was a good test out of the gate and showed many things we will need to work on,” Lions coach David Fair­child said.  “Overall, it was a good win.”

After playing to a scoreless draw in the first half, Albany opened the third quarter with a 53-yard touchdown run by Ashton Bailey.

Stamford’s attempts to answer were thwarted by turnovers. 

Cason Fairchild intercepted a pass to end one drive, Lute Wheeler recovered a fumble forced by Bailey to stop another, and Bailey ended a third with the first of his two interceptions.

In between, Albany put together a good drive with several good runs by Branson Beal only to stall before reaching the end zone.

After Bailey’s second interception, Albany reached the end zone on a pass from Wheeler to Bailey. 

Beal closed out the scoring with a 37-yard touchdown run.

“Offensively, we had several people in different positions but overcame some fronts,” David Fairchild said. “I thought Beal provided a lot of offense on the ground for us.”

He added that Wheeler orchestrated some good plays and throws from the quarterback position, and Cason Fairchild and Houston Heatly both had good receptions and runs.

The coach was also pleased with Albany’s defensive effort.

“Defensively, we held our ground against a heavy run team,” he said. “Wyatt Beard and Heatly played well up front, and Bryson Herring playing a new position showed a lot of hustle and several good plays along with Ethan Green.” 

He concluded by saying that the secondary was strong with Beal, Bailey, and Fairchild recording key plays.