Albany blasts Collinsville, rolls into the state semifinals for second straight year

MINERAL WELLS – Cole Chapman threw for 314 yards and five touchdown passed and ran for two more as No. 6 Albany blasted No. 7 Collinsville 66-34 in a Region II-2A Division II final Friday at Ram Stadium.

The Lions broke open a 28-14 game with three touchdowns in the final 8:01 of the second quarter and led 49-21 at halftime

Collinsville (12-2), playing in a region final for the first time since 2009, managed only two more TDs the rest of the game.

Albany (12-2) advances to the state semifinals for the second consecutive year. The Lions will play New Home (13-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Sweetwater’s Mustang Bowl.

The winner plays either No. 1 Mart (14-0) or No. 2 Burton (14-0) in the state championship game at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

New Home stunned No. 3 Wellington 35-20 on Friday in Canyon. It’s New Home’s first state semifinal berth.

Albany jumped on the Pirates for a quick 14-0 lead.

Coy Lefevre capped a four-play, 66-yard drive with a 10-yard TD run with less than a minute elapsed in the game, and he came back to catch a 51-yard TD pass from Chapman less than three minutes later. The Lions covered 60 yards on three plays on the drive.

Collinsville answered as Rylan Newman threw a 56-yard TD pass to Reed Patterson a minute later.

Chapman responded by throwing a 38-yard TD pass to Cason Fairchild for a 21-7 lead with 3:19 left in the opening quarter. The Lions went 70 yards on seven plays.

Chapman threw a 20-yard TD pass to Lefevre early in the second quarter, and the Pirates kept pace with Newman running 65 yards for a TD. He fumbled the ball but recovered it in the end zone to make it a 28-14 game with 10:42 left in the first half.

It was all downhill from there – as in Adam Hill. He caught a 23-yard TD pass from Chapman. One play after the Lions stopped Collinsville on fourth-and-2, Hill scampered 59 yards for a 42-14 lead with 6:01 remaining in the second quarter.

Chapman threw a 70-yard TD pass to London Fuentes, before Collinsville closed out the half with Logan Jenkins throwing an 11-yard TD pass to Colin Barnes.

Chapman ran for TDs of 22 and 7 yards in the third quarter, and Fuentes added a 22-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.

The Pirates got the game’s final score – a 3-yard TD pass from Jenkins to Carter Scott.

Lefevre had a big night, running for 94 yards on nine carries. He also had six catches for 123 yards. Hill (8-86) and Chapman (9-63) were part of a Lion offense than ran for 349 yards. Chapman also completed 15 of 19 passes, including five for 88 yards to Fuentes.