By Sam Waller

The Packers and Chiefs won their age division championships Monday night as the Albany NFL Flag Football League concluded its season this week with its Super Bowl week at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

The Packers won the Kindergarten-First Grade group, while the Chiefs won the Fourth-Sixth Grade division.

The Second-Third Grade division played Tuesday night, with Texas Tech winning the championship.

The league played its final regular season games Saturday at the Albany High School baseball field

Kindergarten-

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions junior varsity football team closed out its season last Thursday with a 54-16 victory against the Seymour Panthers at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

Albany finished the season 8-0.

“This has been a great season for these young men,” coach David Fair­child said. “I appreciate all their dedication and hard work.   I’m looking forward to a bright future for this group.”

Ashton Bailey and Cason Fairchild each scored three touchdowns, while Lute Wheeler passed for two TDs and two conversions.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Cubs football teams combined efforts last Thursday to finish off their season with a 42-0 victory against Cross Plains at Robeert Bail Memorial Stadium.

“What a great season for these young men, going 8-0,” eighth grade coach David Fairchild said. “We’re looking for big things down the road.”

Eighth grade quarterback Brody Oliver passed for two touchdowns, ran for a third, and completed three conversion passes.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions and Lady Lions basketball teams are in wait-and-see mode as several players are busy participating in the football and volleyball playoffs.

Under UIL rules, girls were allowed to begin playing games last Friday with boys allowed to start this Friday. However, player availability will be an issue for Albany teams until the fall sports conclude their seasons.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions put the finishing touches on another undefeated regular season and built momentum for the playoffs last Friday, defeating Cross Plains 61-3 at Buffalo Stadium.

Albany (9-0 overall, 4-0 District 8-2A Division II) enters the playoffs without a loss for the 10th time under head coach Denney Faith and the eighth time since 2008. The Lions will play Era in a Class 2A Division II bi-district game at 7:00 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at Hawk Stadium in Iowa Park.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions overcame a slow start Saturday to advance in the Class 2A volleyball playoffs, defeating Colorado City 23-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-14 in an area round match at Jim Ned High School.

The Lady Lions defeated Quanah in three sets on Tuesday for the regional quarterfinal title, earning a return trip to the Region I-2A tournament.Details of Tuesday’s match will be reported next week.

Albany will face Wink at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 12 in the regional semifinals at San Angelo Central’s Didrikson Gymnasium. 

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs concluded their portion of the District 9-1A Division II schedule last Friday with a 52-6 loss at Throckmorton.

“We played hard, but Throckmorton was just that much better,” Bulldogs coach John Hughes said.

Connor Hail rushed for 38 yards to lead the Bulldogs (1-7 overall, 1-3 district). Moran finished with 60 total yards in a game that ended at halftime.

Arren Hawley accounted for 16 yards rushing and caught two passes for 9 yards and a touchdown. Ellis Hise was 2 of 17 passing for 9 yards.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The eighth grade Lady Cubs volleyball team finished the season on Oct. 27 with a win over Strawn, earning the district championship.

Albany beat the visitors 25-10, 25-10 to complete the season with a 10-2 record.

“The girls had a great season and were the district champions,” coach Missy Dutchover said. “They should all add to the strong high school program next year.”

Scoring on serves were Mimi Ivy 15, Caroline Chapman 13, Braylee Clark 9, Alli McDaniel 9, Kaisley Bartee 7, and Avarie Myrick 7.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Cubs split their final separate games last Thursday with the eighth grade winning 30-0 at Santo, while the seventh grade suffered a 38-12 loss at Eastland.

The seventh and eighth grade teams will combine to play their final game of the season at 5:00 p.m. Thursday (today) against Cross Plains at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium as part of a doubleheader with the junior varsity.

Eighth Grade

The eighth grade Cubs struck for big plays on offense and special teams to improve to 8-0 for the season.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lion junior varsity football team remained undefeated last Thursday with a 27-8 victory at Santo.

Ashton Bailey rushed for two touchdowns as Albany improved to 8-0.

“Overall, it was a good game,” coach David Fairchild said. “When you face an offense like Santo’s, you’re only guaranteed so many possessions. I think we took advantage of the ones we had.”

The JV Lions close out their season at 6:00 p.m. Thursday (today) against Seymour at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium. The game will follow a junior high game against Cross Plains.