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Denney Faith finds success in long-term commitment to Albany

Some coaches move around quite a bit — searching for that coveted state football title. Not Denney Faith. He came to Albany in 1982, put down roots and grew from a little-known junior high coach to a name that everyone knows in the little West Texas town, the Big Country — and beyond.

And he’s won that state football title, and he has a chance to snag another when the defending state champion Lions (15-0) play Mart (15-0) at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Class 2A Division II final at AT&T Stadium.

It’s a rematch of last year’s 2A D-II title game — a game Albany won 41-21 for its first state title since winning consecutive titles in 1960-61.

Albany coach Denney Faith cheers after his football team won its first state title since 1961 last season at the Class 2A Div. II state football championship against Mart at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Final score was 41-21 Albany.

What a moment it will be for Faith, who started graduating from Lubbock Christian University as a junior high coach at Albany in 1982. He worked his way up to the Lions’ defensive coordinator three years later before taking over as the head coach in 1987.

Faith didn’t dare dream back then he would ever coach in a state championship game, much less win one. Now, he makes his sixth state title appearance as a head coach.

“I never dreamed it would happen, no,” Faith said. “But I think it’s a great community — a community that cares about football and cares about athletics. It’s a school system that supports you, and I’m surrounded by a bunch of great coaches and football players. I think the stars have kind of aligned.”

More: High School Football Albany pulls away from Sunray to advance to second straight 2A D-II state championship

More: High School Football High School Football: Adam Hill shines on both sides of the ball for Albany…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/high-school-football-denney-faith-101906379.html

Author : The Abilene Reporter-News

Publish date : 2023-12-13 10:19:06

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