Lions overcome slow start to beat Santo
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lion varsity football team got a rough start in Santo last Thursday, allowing the Wildcats to go ahead by two touchdowns before rallying to earn a 34-14 victory in district play.
The Lions (7-1, 4-0) will face Cross Plains in the regular season finale that will determine the District 6-2A title and playoff berths.
The visiting Buffaloes are also sporting a 7-1 overall record and are 3-0 in district by virtue of a forfeit by Ranger last week.
Cross Plains will still have a make-up game to play against Meridian next week.
Both Ranger and Meridian postponed games they were scheduled to play against Cross Plains due to COVID-19 cases.
Coach Denney Faith said that he is expecting a “typical” Cross Plains team for the showdown.
“They are already a hard-nosed group that plays hard,” the coach said. “They have a couple of backs who play a very physical game, and they are really aggressive on defense.”
He added that the Buffaloes always play well against Albany teams.
“They play us a hard game, and this time it will be for the district championship,” he said. “They will be fresh since they haven’t played the last two weeks, so we are going to have to be prepared.”
The two teams will be playing for bragging rights to the District 8-2A crown, along with seeding going into the playoffs that start Nov. 12-14 with bi-district.
Lions Start Slow
The Lions got off to bad start in last week’s game in Santo, despite winning the game 34-14.
“We came out and were moving the ball, but we let penalties get in our way that we shouldn’t have,” Faith said. “So with penalities hurting us and Santo doing a good job of keeping the ball away from us at first, we weren’t playing like we are capable of playing.”
The coach said that when the Lions started eliminating penalties, they were able to find their groove and score points.
Albany racked up over 400 yards in offense for the fifth straight week, rushing for 271 yards and throwing for another 130 yards.
“We also had 24 first downs in the game to Santo’s 11, but again that didn’t happen until we straightened out the penalties,” the coach said. “Our backs ran hard, including Coy Lefevre, Jaheim Newton, and Brooks Neece, and Cole Chapman, Cade Neve, and Brooks Neece had some important catches for first downs.”
The Lions held the Wildcats to 199 yards of offense, but the Lion defense had to adjust to the speed of Santo’s option offense.
“We tried to simulate their type of offense in practices, but we had to adjust to it at first,” the coach said. “We made the adjustments early in the game and were able to hold them to just one first down in the second half. We also kept them under 200 yards of offense that included a 60-yard pass play.”
The coach commended the coverage teams and also noted that the Lions missed only one PAT this week on special teams.
Scoring Summary
Santo – Case Procter ran 6 yards for a touchdown. PAT kick by Andrew Sanders is no good. 2nd quarter - 6:45. Score 0-6.
Santo – Procter pass complete to Andrew Sanders for 61-yard touchdown. 2-point run by Procter is good. 2nd quarter - 3:19. Score 0-14.
Albany – Brooks Neece runs for 2-yard touchdown. PAT kick by Ryder Wilkins good. 2nd quarter - 0:35. Score 7-14.
Albany – Barrett Beal completes 15-yard pass to Neece for touchdown. PAT by Wilkins is good. 3rd quarter - 6:09. Score 14-14.
Albany – Coy Lefevre runs 5 yards for touchdown. PAT kick by Wilkins is no good. 4th quarter - 8:28. Score 20-14.
Albany – Neece one-yard carry for touchdown. PAT attempt by Wilkins good. 4th quarter - 3:23. Score 27-14.
Albany – Beal runs for 10- yard touchdown. PAT attempt by Wilkins good. 4th quarter - 1:24. Score 34-14.
