Lions to open season at home
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions showed big-play capability in their second preseason scrimmage, but they also had issues that will require improvement.
The Lions outscored Early two touchdowns to one on Thursday, Aug. 18 in their final tuneup before the regular season at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium. All three scores came during the controlled portion of the scrimmage on plays covering 70 yards.
Albany opens the season at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26 at home against Lubbock Trinity Christian, a TAPPS Division III state finalist last year. Game time has been pushed forward an hour from the original 6:00 p.m., according to Lions head coach Denney Faith.
Against Early, Albany scored on a 70-yard run by Adam Hill and a 70-yard pass from Cole Chapman to Cason Fairchild, while allowing Early a 70-yard TD run on the sixth play of the night. Penalties and turnovers plagued both teams.
The Lions finished with 293 total yards and 10 first downs, but six penalties, two interceptions, and a lost fumble killed drives. During the live quarter, penalties left Albany facing fourth-and-31 and fourth-and-20. Penalties also erased two London Fuentes receptions that would have gained 60 yards.
“We’ve got to take care of our penalties,” Faith said. “We had some drives going and had a chance to move the ball a little bit, but we hurt ourselves with penalties. We’ve got to take care of that, especially in the passing game.”
Chapman finished nine of 18 passing for 134 yards. Backup Lute Wheeler was 2 of 3 for 26 yards.
“We had some success in our passing game at times, and there were times that our timing was a little off,” Faith said. “That’s why we were working on it.”
Fairchild had five receptions for 84 yards. Branson Beal caught two passes for 36 yards, Clay Green two for 26, and Hill two for 14.
Hill finished with 79 rushing yards on six carries, while Coy Lefevre had six carries for 39 yards.
“We wanted to move the ball on the ground a little bit better, and we did,” Faith said. “We still wanted to work on our passing game, but we were moving the ball on the ground and felt like we could have kept doing that in a game situation.”
The Lions defense allowed Early 172 total yards and six first downs, while forcing five turnovers. The Longhorns were 11 of 25 passing and rushed for just 12 yards other than the touchdown.
“Our defense is playing well,” Faith said. “We try to teach our kids to play fast, and they’re all running with a high motor and enjoying it. As long as we can keep playing a little bit of defense, we feel good about our chances.”
Hill and Fairchild intercepted passes on consecutive plays. Zane Waggoner and Wyatt Windham also picked off passes, and Tye Edgar recovered a fumble after Hill got a strip-sack.
“You need those kinds of turnovers,” Faith said. “Two of them probably would have been pick-sixes in games.”
Junior Varsity
Albany’s junior varsity also had a solid outing against Early after struggling offensively in its first scrimmage.
“We made some positive steps in a forward direction,” JV coach David Fairchild said. “We were rusty in the first scrimmage, but that was expected. We came out and looked pretty sharp in the second scrimmage.”
While neither offense produced a score, Albany finished with a 109-90 edge in total yards. Early had a 4-3 advantage in first downs.
The Lions finished with 103 rushing yards behind the efforts of Shawn Keen, Huffman Heatly, and Breylon Billington.
“We ran the ball and showed some improvement on that,” Fairchild said. “It was a good week.”
The JV Lions open their season at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25 (tonight), against Santo at Nail Stadium.
Facing Trinity
The Lions face a new opponent in Trinity Christian, which Faith said brings an “outstanding football team” to town.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us the first game out, especially with the stuff they do offensively,” he said. “They run a Slot-T with a lot of misdirection. They have really good athletes.”
Clay Green said the shift from scrimmages to games requires a change in the team’s mental approach.
“We have to be more persistent,” the senior said. “We’ve got to work on our technique and get our minds straight on the game. We can’t worry about anything else.”
