Albany rushing attack unstoppable as Lions stun Mart to win football state championship

Everything pointed in Mart’s favor on Wednesday night.

Mart was appearing in its 14th football state championship game, was tied for third all-time with eight titles and was the top-ranked team in the state.

Albany hadn’t played for a ring since 2015 and hadn’t won one since 1961.

Oh, and Mart’s defense had only allowed 6.4 points per game.

But in one of the biggest upsets, Albany shocked Mart and its fans as the Lions won 41-21 in the Class 2A Division 2 state championship at AT&T Stadium.

“Proud of the kids and community. They practiced all week long with confidence,” Albany coach Denney Faith said. “We felt good going in and had a good plan and they executed. When you have good kids and they execute, you stand a chance.

“This 2022 team won a state championship and they didn’t do it only for themselves, but for a lot of other guys that sacrificed to get it in this kind of position.”

Albany ends the season 14-2 with its first title in 61 years.

Mart ends at 15-1.

“Playing a great team like Albany, you can’t make mistakes and you can’t give them extra possessions. You have to play flawless,” Mart coach Kevin Hoffman said. “We didn’t do that tonight. Comes down to turnovers and too many mistakes and we haven’t done that all year long.

“One game doesn’t define these kids and the year they had. Seems like it right now, it hurts especially since it’s our only loss of the year. It’s tough to find the words to make it better.”

The Panthers had trouble with the Lions rushing attack all night. Coy Lefevre and Adam Hill helped Albany to a 28-14 lead at halftime. Lefevre scored from the 1 to help Albany lead 7-0 with 7:02 left in the first quarter.

Albany out-gained Mart in total yards 404-318 with 311-180 coming on the ground.

Mart would score and tie it at 7 with under two minutes left in the period when quarterback Jonah Ross hit Brandon Lundy on a 16-yard pass. Lundy made three defenders miss.

The Lions answered back only 39 seconds into the second quarter. Lefevre scored his second 1-yard touchdown and Albany led 14-7. But again, Mart responded to tie the game at 14.

A 4-yard TD run from Je’Deriun Bell tied it with 7:57 left in the first half.

But then Albany scored the next 21 points.

Lefevre scored on a 7-yard run to put the Lions on top 21-14 with 3:40 before intermission. The drive came following an Albany interception by London Fuentes.

Albany closed out the half with its second pick, one from Lefevre, and Hill capped off the scoring drive with a 27-yard run into the end zone to extend the lead to 28-14 going into the break.

The Lions received the second-half kickoff and drove for another score. Lefevre punched in his fourth of the night, but Mart was able to block the extra point.

Still, Albany led 34-14 early in the third quarter.

It only took 21 seconds for Mart to get a much-needed score as Ross and Lundy connected for a second time to cut the lead to 34-21 with 8:38 left in the third.

Mart was able to force a punt on the ensuing drive and the Panthers got into Albany territory. But a sack pushed the Panthers back to a fourth-and-long and Mart gave the ball back to the Lions.

Four plays, two minutes and 73 yards later and Albany went back up three scores, 41-21, on a 52-yard TD run from quarterback Cole Chapman.

Chapman had a game-high 129 yards rushing and threw for 93 yards on 6 of 17 attempts. Hill chipped in 102 yards rushing and three catches for 71 yards.

“So glad for this community,” Faith said. “I can’t say enough good things about playing and coaching in a small town like Albany, Texas. The passion for the game and for the kids, it’s an awesome feeling.”

Lefevre was voted state title game offensive MVP with his four TDs. Wyatt Windham was defensive MVP with 11 1/2 tackles, six solo tackles and one tackle for loss.

“Unbelievable athlete,” Faith said of Lefevre. “He competes and playing hard on both sides of the ball. Just a great athlete.”

Tye Edgar added eight tackles, two for loss and two sacks for the Lions.

Bell led Mart with 97 yards rushing. Ross threw for 138 yards on 12 of 21 attempts.