Lions to battle Mustangs for regional title
In a game where the momentum shifts and keeping up with turnovers was dizzying, the Albany Lions pulled off a 38-28 area playoff win over Santo last Friday in Graham.
Albany (7-5) advances to the regional playoff this Friday against the Wheeler Mustangs (8-3) at Vernon’s Lion Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m., with Albany serving as the home team. Ticket prices are $6 for adults and $4 for students with the usual passes honored.
The Mustangs were the second place team out of District 5-2A Div. 2, with a lone loss in district to district champ Wellington. Wheeler beat Archer City in the bi-district round, 51-26, and defeated Haskell last Friday, 26-12, in the area game.
“Wheeler is very similar to Santo,” Lion head coach Denney Faith said. “They run the option and don’t throw much, but when they do, they are good at it.”
The coach said that the Mustangs rely mostly on their quarterback and a tailback to run the ball.
“They are aggressive on defense and move people around to get a lot of different looks,” Faith said. “Their defense doesn’t line up the same every play, so our offense will have to be ready.”
The winner of the third round playoff will move on to the quarterfinal game to play the winner of the Hamlin/Wellington match-up.
Lions Tame Wildcats
Faith said that the Lion defense played well against Santo in what he called a sloppy game.
“We were able to create a bunch of turnovers, but we gave some up too,” he said. “Turnovers really affected the game, causing a number of momentum changes, but our defense played fast and hit hard to make a number of those turnovers happen. Santo was a big, physical team and created some turnovers of their own.”
The Wildcats gave up 10 turnovers, while the Lions gave away four.
“We weren’t as efficient on offense as we needed to be,” the coach said. “We missed too many passes and allowed them to put too much pressure on our quarterback. But we were able to complete passes when we needed to for some big plays.”
Faith said that Santo “loaded the box up to stop the run and get pressure on our quarterback, so we had to rely on big passing plays to put points on the board.”
He added that wind was a factor in the game, affecting the kicking game somewhat.
“Ryan (Hill) punted well, including a punt that pushed them to their own one-yard line,” Faith said. “We played good defense to keep them close to their end, which led to us scoring a touchdown.”
The coach also commended several younger players who filled starting positions this week.
“The younger guys really stepped up and did a great job for their first big varsity game,” he said.
Overall, Faith was happy with the win.
“The kids played hard and got the win, but we had some breakdowns hurt us that we need to fix,” he said.
Scoring Summary
Albany – Ben West completes 60-yard pass to Ryan Hill for touchdown. PAT by Hill good. 1st quarter – 6:29. Score 7-0.
Albany – 21-yard field goal by Hill. 1st quarter – 3:47. Score 10-0.
Santo – Grant Nemeth scores on 20-yard run. PAT kick by Andrew Sanders blocked. 1st quarter – 00:25. Score 10-6.
Albany – West completes six-yard pass to Dillon Hindman for touchdown. Hill kicks the PAT. 2nd quarter – 7:30. Score 17-6.
Albany – West completes 34-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Dacus. Hill kicks PAT. 2nd quarter – 1:07. Score 24-6.
Santo – Jett Bryan returns punt 62 yards for touchdown. Two-point run by Nemeth good. 2nd quarter – 00:05. Score 24-14.
Santo – Nemeth scores on 40-yard run. Two-point pass fails. 3rd quarter – 11:20. Score – 24-20.
Albany – Cutter Edgar scores on 36-yard run. PAT by Hill is good. 3rd quarter – 6:56. 31-20.
Albany – West passes to Blaine Kayga for 16-yard touchdown. Hill kicks PAT. 3rd quarter – 2:25. Score 38-20.
Santo – Nemeth runs back interception for touchdown. Two-point pass to Bryan is good. 4th quarter – 9:42. Score 38-28.
