By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs volleyball team kept its playoff hopes alive Saturday with a four-set victory over Rising Star.

Entering their Tuesday match at Strawn, the Lady Bulldogs were tied with Newcastle for third place among District 6-2A’s Class 1A members at 4-4. The top three teams qualify for the playoffs.

Moran started last week with a three-set loss to Hawley on Oct. 12, a match that didn’t count in the district standings because Hawley is on the 2A side of the district.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High eighth grade Lady Cubs defeated Newcastle 25-14, 25-12 on Oct. 12 in last week’s only junior high volleyball match.

The Lady Cubs seventh and eighth grade teams played Hawley on Monday. Results were not available at press time and will be reported next week.

Against Newcastle, the opening set went back and forth and was tied at 10-10 when Caroline Chapman served 10 consecutive points to help Albany take a 20-10 lead.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Cubs recorded a pair of road victories last Thursday despite going in different directions.

The eighth grade Cubs won 34-0 at Hico, while the seventh grade won 22-21 at Abilene TLCA.

Both teams are off this week as the Albany programs take an open date. The teams return to action Oct. 28 at Santo.

Eighth Grade

Brody Oliver threw three touchdown passes and ran for a two-point conversion as the  Albany eighth grade improved to 7-0.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions junior varsity football team started quickly and never trailed last Thursday in defeating Hico 46-0 on the road.

Cason Fairchild returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown, and Lute Wheeler passed for three touchdowns as Albany improved to 7-0.

“We came out and dominated both offensively and defensively,” coach David Fairchild said. “We had a lot of energy on both sides of the ball.”

Ashton Bailey, who also kicked four PATs, scored on a 22-yard screen pass to give the Lions a 12-0 lead.

By Sam Waller

Albany’s Jonathan Coody qualified for regional competition last week with his performance at the District 10-2A cross country meet at Anson.

Coody, a freshman, finished sixth out of 11 runners in the varsity boys race on Oct. 13. Coody covered three miles at Anson Golf Course in 20 minutes, 15 seconds.

Coody will compete in the Region II-2A meet on Tuesday, Oct. 26 at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie.

Albany had six runners compete at district with two varsity girls and three junior high girls in addition to Coody.

By Sam Waller

The foursome of Randy Walker, James Waters, Charles Barrett, and Rodney Barton scored a one-shot victory last Friday in the 14th annual John Rose & Jim Law Memorial Albany Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament.

The tournament raises funds for the Albany K Charity Scholarship Fund and other local projects.

The winning team carded an 18-hole total of 58. The team of Justin Noble, Chris Gay, Derrick Hughes, and Tyler Driskill finished second with a 59.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions won their only outing of last week on Tuesday Oct. 12, defeating Newcastle 25-17, 25-16, 25-14 on the road in District 6-2A volleyball action before enjoying an open date on Saturday.

Albany played Hawley at home on Tuesday, winning a hard-fought three-set match 25-14, 31-29, 25-18 to secure the first place spot in district. Details from Tuesday night’s game will be reported next week, but the win keeps the girls undefeated in district and gives them undisputed claim to the district championship.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions kept building momentum last Friday with another efficient performance to move to the brink of playoff qualification.

The Lions scored on eight of nine possessions – kneeling out the clock to end the game on the last – in a 57-0 victory against the Hico Tigers in District 8-2A Division II action at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

The Lions (7-0 overall, 2-0 district) assumed sole possession of first place in the district standings, setting up a showdown against Santo on Oct. 29.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs faced plenty of adversity during the nondistrict portion of the football season and took several lumps along the way.

All that was washed away last Friday as the Bulldogs broke into the win column in a big way, beating the Paint Creek Pirates 70-12 in their District 9-1A Division II opener.

“The guys were working hard all week,” coach John Hughes said. “We had a good game plan set up for them, and they executed it. They did everything we asked them to do.”

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs dropped a pair of District 6-2A volleyball matches last week.

On Oct. 5. Moran lost 11-25, 7-25, 6-25 at home against Newcastle.

“It was just an off night,” coach Jo Hise said.

On Saturday, the Lady  Bulldogs lost 7-25, 5-25, 16-25 at Albany.

Moran scored the first point of the day before the 10th ranked Lady Lions roared back to  dominate the first two sets.