The Lions fells 55-14 when they hosted the Albany Lions at home Friday night, but Head Football Coach/Athletic Director Greg Hardcastle pointed out there were still several bright spots.
The first was the solidarity showed in the community as the Dublin stands sported red in honor of the late Eddie Hernandez, who tragically died in a vehicle collision last year. Red was his favorite color.
Fans, cheerleaders, Dandi-Lions, and band members added red to the home side in memory of Big Eddie as they cheered for the matchup between two Lions on Cervetto Field.
“With Albany ranked very high, I think we did some very good things and found things we need to work on,” Hardcastle said of the game.
“We had almost 400 yards on offense but we killed ourselves with turnover,” he added.
Hardcastle praised the whole offensive line, saying the players opened up holes which allowed the running game to gain momentum.
Cameron Patton led in tackles for Dublin with 10, followed by Lucas Azua (9), Casar Caldera and Noah Thompson (8 each) and Sev Ruiz (7).
Kaden Gaitan had six tackles, 58 yards in receiving, 50 yards in kickoff return and completed a touchdown. Aidan Hernandez completed the other TD, had six tackles and completed his PAT kicks for the extra points.
Quarterback Chris Teten passed for 63.7 yards and rushed for 79. Dalan Rasberry led in receiving with 135 yards.
Hardcastle said his team is focusing on eliminating turnover and working on tackling this week as they prepare for Friday’s road game against Anson at 7 p. m.
“Anson is going to be a little different than last couple of years,” Hardcastle said. “They’ve been running the ball about 60% of time. I think we match up really well; We’re looking to go get a win and start building up momentum.”