Albany at Stamford: Another Chapter in a Century-Old Rivalry

There aren’t many Friday nights that can put nine state championships and more than a century of shared history on the same field.

This week in Stamford is one of them.

Albany and Stamford meet for the 46th time at Bill Anderson Stadium, renewing a series that dates back to at least 1922. Stamford holds a 26-16-3 advantage across the 45 documented meetings.

The history goes well beyond the series itself.

Stamford won state championships in 1955, 1956 and 1958 before Albany followed with back-to-back titles in 1960 and 1961. Decades later, Stamford won consecutive championships in 2012 and 2013, and Albany did the same in 2022 and 2023.

The rivalry has produced plenty of memorable nights along the way.

In 2011, Albany went into Stamford and won 28-21 during the regular season. Seven weeks later, the teams met again in the regional round of the playoffs at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.

Same teams. Same final score.

Different winner.

Stamford won the rematch 28-21 and went on to reach the state championship game.

The last two meetings offer another reminder of how quickly things can change. Stamford won 50-6 in 2024 during a 15-1 season that ended in the state championship game. Albany answered a year later with a 21-7 victory.

Now comes the next chapter.

Both teams enter unbeaten in District 7-2A Division II play. Albany opened its district schedule with a 59-8 win over Cross Plains last week, while Stamford improved to 2-0 with a 56-0 shutout at Hamlin.

Albany can leave Friday night 2-0 in district, or Stamford can improve to 3-0. Either way, the winner gains an important head-to-head advantage over another contender.

Stamford’s High-Powered Passing Attack

Through six games, Stamford has shown it can put points on the board in a hurry.

The Bulldogs are averaging nearly 47 points per game, and junior quarterback Miles Follis has been at the center of it.

Follis has completed 101 of 141 passes for 1,738 yards and 23 touchdowns against just four interceptions, a 71.6 percent completion rate and nearly 290 passing yards per game.

Last week against Hamlin, he was nearly perfect: 13 of 14 for 246 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-0 victory.

What makes Stamford particularly difficult to defend is that Follis doesn’t have to rely on one target.

Nine different Bulldogs have caught a pass this season.

Senior Levi Vahlenkamp leads the way with 35 receptions for 683 yards, averaging 19.5 yards per catch. Junior Slayden Young is right behind him with 34 catches for 474 yards.

Junior Brennan Armstrong has turned 10 receptions into 263 yards, 26.3 yards per catch, while junior Ace Martinez has 226 yards on only nine receptions.

Take away one option and Follis has shown he’s perfectly comfortable finding another.

And selling out to stop the passing game creates another problem.

Stamford can run it.

Senior Christopher McCann leads the Bulldogs with 326 yards on just 26 carries. As a team, Stamford has rushed for 985 yards while averaging 8.3 yards per carry.

The passing game gets the headlines. The efficiency on the ground is what helps make the Bulldogs difficult to defend.

Albany Brings Balance and Its Own Big-Play Threats

Albany attacks defenses differently.

The Lions have leaned on a more balanced offense through five games, beginning with junior quarterback Clay Chapman.

Chapman has completed 51 of 93 passes for 831 yards and 14 touchdowns while adding 247 yards on the ground.

His top two targets have both already surpassed 300 receiving yards.

Sophomore Blake Britting leads Albany with 22 receptions for 382 yards and five touchdowns. Junior Aiden Vickers has caught only 13 passes, but those catches have produced 302 yards and six touchdowns.

That’s 23.2 yards every time Vickers catches the football.

Albany’s ability to pair those weapons with the running game was on full display last week.

The Lions ran 44 times for 301 yards against Cross Plains. Junior Jakobi Roberson carried 16 times for 142 yards and four touchdowns and currently leads Albany with 436 rushing yards on the season.

Even while Albany was piling up yards on the ground, its passing game remained explosive.

Chapman completed only seven passes against Cross Plains, but those completions produced 189 yards and four touchdowns.

Vickers caught three of them for 139 yards and three scores.

Albany doesn’t need to throw it 30 times to hurt a defense through the air.

Common Opponents, Different Results

The two teams have crossed paths with some of the same opponents this season, offering a few comparisons heading into Friday night.

Both have lost to Class 2A Division I De Leon, whose only loss this season came against Goldthwaite, a district opponent of Albany and Stamford.

Hawley offers a more interesting comparison.

Albany opened the season with a 34-27 victory over the Bearcats. Two weeks later, Stamford and Hawley traded punches in a 43-42 game that went Hawley’s way.

On paper, that comparison favors Albany.

But Stamford also owns a 27-7 victory over Cisco and has added wins of 69-7 over Miles and 56-0 over Hamlin. That’s 152 points scored and just 14 allowed over the Bulldogs’ last three games.

Albany, meanwhile, pairs its Hawley victory with a 27-26 win over Anson, giving the Lions two victories over teams expected to factor into the Class 2A Division I playoff picture.

There are arguments to be made on either side.

Friday gets rid of the need for them.

What’s at Stake

Nobody will win District 7-2A Division II on Friday night.

But somebody can take an important early step toward it.

Albany enters 1-0 in district play, while Stamford is 2-0. The winner will remain unbeaten in district with a head-to-head victory over another contender already in hand.

The loser won’t be out of the race.

The margin for error will simply get smaller.

With plenty of district football still ahead, Friday isn’t a championship game.

It just happens to carry some of the consequences of one.

What Could Decide It

The matchup begins with a simple question for Albany:

Can the Lions make Follis uncomfortable?

That has been easier said than done.

He’s completing better than 71 percent of his passes, has thrown 23 touchdowns against four interceptions and has enough weapons around him to punish a defense for devoting too much attention to any one player.

Vahlenkamp and Young give him two proven targets. Armstrong and Martinez can turn limited opportunities into explosive plays. And if Albany commits too many defenders to slowing the passing game, Stamford has averaged 8.3 yards per rushing attempt.

Albany has to find pressure without creating easy answers somewhere else.

Stamford’s challenge is different.

The Bulldogs have to keep Albany from dictating the game with balance.

Roberson gives the Lions a legitimate rushing threat. Chapman can hurt defenses with his arm or his legs. Britting provides a reliable target, while Vickers has shown he can change a game with a single catch.

If Stamford can put Albany behind the chains and force Chapman into obvious passing situations, the Bulldogs can begin taking pieces of that offense away.

If Albany can stay on schedule, sustain drives and keep Stamford’s offense watching from the sideline, the complexion of the game changes.

Of course, there is another possibility.

Two offenses loaded with big-play threats might simply start trading touchdowns.

Friday will provide the answer.

Another Chapter

The names have changed many times since Albany and Stamford first started playing football against each other more than a century ago.

The expectations haven’t changed much.

Championships from the 1950s and ’60s sit alongside championships from the 2010s and 2020s. Generations of players from both towns have grown up knowing what comes with putting on an Albany or Stamford uniform.

There won’t be a state championship on the line Friday night.

But when two programs with nine state titles, 17 state championship appearances and 45 previous meetings take the field, both unbeaten in district play, it doesn’t need much more added to it.

Albany and Stamford have been writing this story for more than 100 years.

Friday night, they get to write the next chapter.