Lions bring home the gold!
By Sam Waller
The fifth time proved to be the charm for Denney Faith and the Albany Lions.
Behind an overpowering rushing attack and a stingy defense, the Lions claimed the school’s third state championship, the first under Faith, Wednesday, Dec. 14 with a 41-21 victory over the Mart Panthers in the Class 2A Division II final at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
The championship joined back-to-back titles of 1960-61 as Albany made its eighth trip to the finals. Wednesday was the fifth time Faith had coached the Lions in a championship game after losses in 1991, 2009, and 2014-15.
“I can’t even explain it,” Faith said of finally claiming the elusive title. “I don’t know that it’s really sunk in yet that we are actually a state champion. It’s so hard to get there and then finish it when you finally do.”
Coy Lefevre rushed for four touchdowns to earn Offensive MVP honors at the state game with Wyatt Windham named Defensive MVP after recording 17 total tackles.
Lefevre, who ran for 65 yards on 17 carries with scoring runs of 1, 1, 7, and 3 yards, said the honor was really a team award that should be shared.
“I honestly just want to give it to the offensive line,” he said. “The (MVP) trophy doesn’t really mean anything, but the gold medal does. The ring does.”
Windham, a junior who transferred to Albany from Rockdale over the summer, had six solo tackles with one tackle for loss. He said his performance was just a matter of Mart coming his way on so many plays.
“I just had to step up and make the tackles,” he said. “(Mart’s Je’Deriun Bell) was a big running back to tackle.”
Adam Hill and Cole Chapman each rushed for a touchdown as Albany (14-2) dismantled the top-ranked and heavily favored Panthers (15-1), who were seeking their ninth title in 14 finals appearances.
Albany rushed for 311 of its 404 total yards. Chapman finished with a career-high 129 yards on 15 carries, while completing 6 of 17 passes for 93 yards. Hill added 102 yards rushing on 13 carries and caught three passes for 71 yards.
The Lion defense allowed a normally explosive Mart attack that had averaged more than 450 total yards and 57 points per game a comparatively modest 318 yards. Panther quarterback Jonah Ross, who had just three interceptions coming in, was picked off twice in going 12 of 21 for 138 yards and two TDs. Brandon Lundy had four receptions for 73 yards and both scores, while Bell finished with 97 yards and a TD on 17 carries.
“We preached all week long about the defense being able to tackle their good athletes,” Faith said. “We held a kid (Bell) who was averaging 150 yards a game to less than 100. When you can do that and disrupt what they do offensively – Mart was averaging 50-something points per game – and to hold them to three scores was a great accomplishment.”
In addition to Windham, Tye Edgar was in on 12 total tackles with two sacks, and Jayden Lucas was in on eight. Lefevre, Samuel Rosas, and Keatin Russell each had six total tackles.
Albany played an amazingly clean game considering the circumstances, committing just one penalty and losing one turnover that came after the outcome had been decided.
But almost everyone agrees that the major difference was the way Albany controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball against what was considered one of the best lines in Mart’s history. Albany’s dominance up front was evidenced by the Lions converting on eight of 14 opportunities, while Mart made just three of 11.
“Our guys up front, defensively and offensively, have been great all year,” Faith said. “I think they’ve been overlooked sometimes because we have such great skill kids. They’ve been able to do that all year long, and they’re a really good group.”
Albany junior tackle Zane Waggoner said the Lions showed they were up to the challenge.
“Mart was for sure the best line we faced all year,” he said. “We knew what we were up against going into the game. We knew we had to step up, and we did the job perfectly.”
Another key to the game was being able to limit Mart’s big plays. The Panthers did have 13 gains of 10 yards or more, but only one – a 45-yard touchdown – went for more than 20.
Meanwhile, Albany had 10 plays of at least 10 yards, ripping off big chunks of yardage with gains of 52, 27, 34 and 52 yards that either set up or resulted in touchdowns. Hill had the ball on three of those plays.
“We saw they had the big line up front, but we knew we could use our speed to get outside of them. If our O-line blocked well, we really only had to make one guy miss.” Hill said, “All week in practice, we harped on taking care of the job up front and let the backs and quarterback do it after that. Once our O-line started taking over the game, it was just downhill for us.”
Mart responded twice to Albany scores to tie the game at 14 through the second quarter, then the Lions scored on three consecutive possessions to seize control. The Panthers were never closer than 13 points in the second half.
Things started going Albany’s way even before the kickoff. After Albany won the coin toss and deferred its choice to the second half, Mart inexplicably elected to kick off despite referee Jeff Cooper repeatedly asking if that was indeed the choice. The result was Albany starting both halves with the ball, and the Lions took advantage.
As they had throughout their playoff run, the Lions had pivotal plays at the right time from numerous sources. London Fuentes, playing on a sprained ankle suffered in the state semifinals, struck the first blow with his team-leading seventh interception to set the offense up at the Mart 22. Albany converted two third downs before Lefevre barged into the end zone for his first score.
“The ankle didn’t bother me too much because of all the adrenaline and the fact that we were on the big stage,” said Fuentes, who added 81 all-purpose yards. “I could hurt on Thursday, but I wasn’t worried about it Wednesday.”
Following an exchange of punts, Mart pulled even on the first TD pass Ross threw to Lundy late in the first quarter.
Hill provided the next big play for the Lions, bouncing off three defenders for a 52-yard reception to the Mart 1-yard line to convert on third-and-13 on the first snap of the second quarter. Lefevre punched it in for his second score on the next play.
“When you’ve been getting hit hard like that all year long, you get used to it, and you’re able to keep your feet and balance,” Hill said. “That’s what playing a tough schedule at the beginning of the year helped us out with.”
Mart again responded, putting together a 10-play, 82-yard drive that ended with Bell’s 4-yard TD run, but Albany took control of the game from that point.
The Lions came back with a nine-play drive to take the lead for good on Lefevre’s third TD. On fourth-and-1 from the Mart 20, Lefevre burst through the middle for 13 yards one play before the score.
A few minutes later, Lefevre followed that up with the defensive play of the game, putting Albany in position to take command, when he made a one-handed grab for an interception on a pass he batted out of the air. The senior converted another fourth down three plays before Hill raced 27 yards around the left side to score with 47 seconds left in the half.
Albany made Mart pay for its decision on the coin toss by driving the second-half kickoff 68 yards in seven plays for Lefevre’s final touchdown on a wildcat keeper and a 20-point lead. Hill had a 34-yard run, also on a direct snap, to give the Lions first-and-goal at the Mart 9.
Mart was able to keep things interesting a little longer as Ross blocked the extra point and the Panthers recovered Albany’s surprise onside kick attempt. Two plays later, Lundy took a swing pass 45 yards to cut the Lions’ lead to 34-21.
The Panthers threatened to draw closer, forcing a punt and driving to the Albany 27, but Edgar stepped up with the next crucial play – a sack for 11 yards on third-and-3.
“I’m glad I was able to do it,” Edgar said. “That was a big third down right there.”
Mart’s punt went just 11 yards and Chapman provided the exclamation point with a 52-yard touchdown run around the left side with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.
“I was thinking ‘don’t get caught from behind’,” said Chapman, who picked up key downfield blocks from Windham and Lanxton Viertel. “I tried to turn on the jets a little bit and finally scored.”
Mart’s last chance to get back in the game fizzled with another mistake followed by yet another big play by Albany. Facing fourth-and-1 at the Lions 18 early in the fourth quarter, a false-start penalty pushed the Panthers back. Rosas then slipped past two blockers to drop Lundy for a minimal gain to turn the ball over on downs with 9:48 to go.
“At that moment, I think that’s when I knew we had sealed the game,” Rosas said. “We were bringing the gold back to Albany.”
The Lions put the game away with a drive that was pure Denney Faith football – 11 consecutive running plays to move from the Albany 22 to the Mart 11. While the possession ended with Chapman throwing just his second interception of the season, the 7 minutes, 28 seconds Albany chewed off the clock left the Panthers with too little time and too big a deficit.
“When we got the ball for that last drive, we told the offensive line we were fixing to put the game on their backs,” Faith said. “We were able to march it down the field and use a lot of clock and put the game out of reach.”
Mart drove from its own 8 to its 33 before Edgar’s sack on the final play set off a celebration for which Albany fans had waited 61 years.
