By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions couldn’t make a fast start hold up as they concluded nondistrict play Friday, Sept. 23 with a 31-28 loss to the Comanche Indians at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

The Lions (3-2) have their open date this week before opening District 6-2A Division II play Friday, Oct. 7 at Miles.

Albany dropped to No. 9 in the Class 2A Division II state rankings with its second consecutive loss, the first back-to-back losses for the Lions since 2019.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs volleyball team dropped its only match of last week at Ranger.

The Lady Bulldogs return to action Saturday, Sept. 24 at Garner.

Moran lost 17-25, 19-25, 13-25 on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Ranger.

Lady Bulldogs coach Jo Hise said the match originally scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 20 against Three Way will not be made up.

“That’s turning out to be a good thing,” Hise said. “I’ve got a bunch of girls sick with allergies and everything else.”

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs made significant strides in their homecoming game last week before succumbing to the Mullin Bulldogs 58-44 Friday, Sept. 16.

Moran players (0-4) look to continue building momentum at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 when they visit Blanket.

Against Mullin, Connor Hail helped keep Moran in contention with 275 rushing yards and five total touchdowns. He also converted on four PAT kicks.

“The progress was unreal,” Moran coach John Hughes said. “We made a complete 180 from what we looked like the previous three games.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams wrapped up their busiest week of the season Monday, Sept. 19 by  sweeping home matches against Ranger.

The Lady Cubs return to action Monday, Sept. 26 when they host Abilene Christian. The seventh grade match will start at 5:00 p.m. with the eighth grade to start at 6:00 p.m.

Since Tuesday, Sept. 13, the seventh grade team has played four matches and the eighth grade five. Both teams competed in the Hawley tournament on Saturday, Sept. 17.

Seventh Grade

By Sam Waller

Two Albany runners medaled, and a third just missed out Wednesday, Sept. 14 at the Hawley cross country meet as the season reached the midway point.

The Lions and Lady ­Lions began the stretch drive toward the district meet Wednesday, Sept. 21 at the Hamlin meet. Results will be reported next week. Albany will have two more meets – Wednesday, Sept. 28 at Rotan and Thursday, Oct. 6 at Anson – before the District 10-2A meet on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at Anson.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Cubs football teams swept their games Thursday, Sept. 15 at Hawley with the seventh grade winning 28-0 and the eighth grade winning 38-32.

The junior high teams return to the road Thursday, Sept. 22 at Comanche. The seventh grade will kick off at 4:30 p.m. with eighth grade and JV to follow.

Last week’s JV game was cancelled.

Seventh Grade

The seventh grade Cubs recorded their second shutout in a row to improve to 3-0.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions volleyball team enjoyed another successful week as the start of district play neared, winning a pair of four-set matches against Snyder and De Leon.

The Lady Lions (15-7)closed out nondistrict play on Tuesday, Sept. 20 with a 25-18, 25-13, 25-11 win over Strawn at home. Details will be reported next week.

Albany opens District 6-2A play Saturday, Sept. 24 at Bangs.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions faced a tall enough task in playing the Hawley Bearcats without two of their top offensive weapons, but field position was a determining factor in the Lions’ 26-14 loss.

Albany (3-1) looks to bounce back from its first regular-season loss in more than two years at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23 when the Comanche Indians visit Robert Nail Memorial Stadium for the final nondistrict game.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs football team took a 56-8 loss Friday, Sept. 9 at Aspermont, but coach John Hughes said the team showed improvement.

The Bulldogs (0-3) return home Friday, Sept. 16 to host Mullin for homecoming. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

At Aspermont, Moran enjoyed production in the running game after finishing with negative yards on the ground the week before.

“We looked a whole lot better than we did in Week 2,” Hughes said. “We had better blocking and better running this time around.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams split their home matches last week against Bangs with the eighth grade team recording its first win of the season.

Both teams are now 1-2.

Because of the Labor Day holiday, last week’s matches were played Thursday, Sept. 8. The schedule was juggled again this week with matches at Coleman played Tuesday, Sept. 13 because of a schedule conflict for Coleman. Details will be reported next week.

Seventh Grade

Against Bangs, the seventh grade Lady Cubs lost 6-25, 13-25.