Lions dominate in 55-7 win over Dublin
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions took a step forward in their second outing of the season Friday, Sept. 1, rolling to a 55-7 victory over the Dublin Lions in the home opener at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.
Albany (2-0) makes its second home appearance at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8, when the Seymour Panthers (2-0) visit.
Against Dublin (0-2), Albany took control from the start. The defense held Dublin without a first down until the visitors’ third series. The Albany offense took just two snaps that weren’t part of a scoring drive, including taking a knee on the final play of the game.
Albany head coach Denney Faith said there was noticeable improvement from the season opener at Lubbock Trinity Christian, but it wasn’t as clean an outing as he would have preferred.
“We still had some mistakes – way too many penalties, for one thing – and we didn’t execute very well in the backfield a couple of times,” Faith said. “But overall, I thought we played a lot better, getting the first-game jitters out of the way, and everybody was settled down a little bit. We still have lots of things we need to work on.”
Albany was flagged nine times for 75 yards. Two of the fouls negated touchdowns.
Adam Hill rushed for 100 yards with touchdowns of 18, 18, and 19 yards on nine carries. Jaxson Hoel (6-47 rushing) and Branson Beal (3-51) also ran for touchdowns, and Tyler Chapman added 45 yards on five carries.
Chip Chambers was 7 of 10 passing for 229 yards and two scores, both to Cason Fairchild.
Fairchild had his second 100-yard receiving game with 122 yards on just two catches. Wyatt Windham, who sat out the opener with a back issue, caught two passes for 86 yards.
For Chambers and Hoel, who both transferred to Albany over the summer, it was their first appearance on their new home field.
“It was really easy moving here,” Hoel said. “Everybody has been really accepting. We were excited to put the pads on and get ready to play. It’s been non-stop since then.”
Chambers, who earned the starting quarterback job, said the second time out had fewer rough spots than the opener.
“Last week was a tough first game – Trinity Christian is pretty good,” he said. “It was a hard-fought game, but we had a lot of mistakes that we fixed, and we came back stronger.”
In two games, Chambers has completed 58.8 percent of his attempts – connecting with seven different receivers – for 441 yards and three TDs.
“The offensive scheme is getting easier for me every game,” he said. “It was a whole lot better this game. The guys I’m playing with make it easier.”
Part of that, Faith said, can be attributed to being in better condition after five weeks of workouts.
“I felt we were in a little better shape this game than the first one, and it was probably a little warmer,” he said. “We didn’t cramp up as much, but we were able to get a lot more kids in.”
In all, seven Albany players produced gains of 10 yards or more as the Lions finished with 470 total yards, averaging 13.8 yards per play.
“The more you can spread the ball around and get more people involved makes it more difficult to defend,” Faith said. “If you’re just counting on one guy to win football games for you, you’re going to face good enough people who can stop that one guy.”
The answer, the coach said, is a balanced attack.
“We’re trying to be balanced between run and pass and trying to get as many people involved offensively,” he said. “It just gives you a better opportunity to move the ball and sustain drives.”
Hoel and Hill were each in on 11 total tackles to lead the defense, which held Dublin to 162 total yards. Hoel had eight solo stops with a sack among two tackles for loss. Hill had six solos and a tackle for loss.
Luke Marshall was in on 10 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown. Chapman was in on nine stops and Parker Shelton seven as 17 Albany players were listed on the tackle chart.
Albany held Dublin to 162 total yards and eight first downs.
“I feel like we played really well defensively again this week,” Faith said.
Albany showed some new wrinkles in its defensive scheme, alternating between its normal four-man front and a 3-3 Stack.
“We’ve been working on the Stack some because it gives us another look defensively,” Faith said. “That gives other people something else they have to prepare for.”
Albany scored on its first three possessions to lead 21-0 on Hoel’s 6-yard run early in the second quarter before Dublin got its only defensive stop of the night. On first down from the Albany 40, Chambers’ pass for Beal was picked off by Dublin’s Reynaldo Chacon. Four plays later, Marshall repaid the favor, returning his interception 44 yards to score.
Albany pushed the lead to 34-0 at halftime on Hill’s second TD. Albany took over at its 30-yard line with 2:24 to go in the half, and Windham took a short pass from Chambers for a 51-yard gain on the first play. Albany overcame a holding call before scoring.
Another holding call on the first play of the second half nullified Hill’s 70-yard touchdown, but Fairchild scored from 72 yards out on a slip screen two plays later.
Hill’s third TD came on another three-play drive that saw Windham make a 35-yard reception.
Beal scored on a 28-yard run in the fourth quarter, capping a six-play drive that saw Albany overcome three penalties with the assistance of a personal foul on Dublin.
Dublin avoided the shutout with 23 seconds remaining on a 5-yard keeper by Kaden Gaitan, who finished 18 of 34 passing for 111 yards. The score capped a 10-play drive that accounted for more than 40 percent of Dublin’s total yards.
Dublin had just two other possessions cross the 50-yard line, losing the ball on downs at the Albany 40 in the second quarter and the 43 in the third.
Facing Seymour
Albany will face a similar offensive attack when Seymour visits in a matchup of unbeaten teams. The Panthers are coming off a 47-7 victory over Lindsay.
“They’re a lot like we saw from Dublin; they’re just better at it,” Faith said. “They throw the ball a lot. The quarterback (Brayden Loyd) is a big, strong kid with a good arm.”
Loyd is 38 of 54 for 660 yards with two TDs in two games. Brayson Zeissel (14-276, 4 TDs) and David Charo (11-157, 3 TDs) have been his main targets.
“They’ve got four or five really good receivers who are athletic,” Faith said. “They’re going to test us in the secondary and pressure-wise. We’ll have to mix up some coverages and put on some different ways to put pressure on the quarterback.”
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