ALBANY — If it’s raining in the Big Country during football season, two things are a virtual guarantee: the West Texas Fair & Rodeo is in Abilene and Albany is scheduled to play Hawley.

For the first time in four meetings, the Lions and Bearcats were able to play at their scheduled location as Albany took a 21-7 win on Friday night at Faith Field at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium. The previous three seasons had seen the game played twice at Hardin-Simmons University’s Shelton Stadium and once at Wylie’s Hugh Sandifer Stadium.

The latest matchup was a defensive slugfest that saw the Lions knock off Hawley for the second time in three years despite the fact that the Bearcats have dominated the series since 2018.