COLUMBUS -- It took a while for No. 21 Albany State to get going in Saturday’s 22nd annual Fountain City Classic at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium, but for the Golden Rams, it was case of better late than never.
Overcoming an early 14-point deficit, Albany State scored 28 second-half points to take control and earn a 38-29 win over Fort Valley State that punched the Rams’ ticket to this week’s inaugural SIAC championship game in Atlanta.
“(Making it to the championship game) means a lot to me,” said Albany State senior quarterback Stanley Jennings, who was 12-for-25 for 286 yards and two touchdowns in the win. “We knew coming in (Fort Valley State) was going to give us a run for our money, and they did. But it was important for us to get to the championship game. Now we just have to have another good week of practice and go get it.”
Albany State -- which won the Eastern Division of the SIAC -- will take on Western Division champion Miles (6-4) for the SIAC title at Panther Stadium on the campus of Clark Atlanta. Kickoff for that game is set for 1 p.m.
FVSU (2-8, 2-5 SIAC) took it to Albany State early, getting the game’s first touchdown when Jennings fumbled after being sacked and the Wildcats’ Cody Nash picked the ball up and returned it 10 yards for the touchdown. Justin Rosenbaum made the extra point to give FVSU a 7-0 lead with 5:52 to go in the opening quarter.
FVSU made it 14-0 early in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Aaron Courtney, but the Rams controlled the rest of the first half to get back into the game. Albany State got on the board on a 12-yard touchdown run by Adrian Alexander with 5:56 left in the second quarter and Brandon Hamilton made a 22-yard field goal as time expired to trim FVSU’s lead to 14-10 at the break.
“When I talked to the team at halftime, I just asked our offensive and defensive lines to get us out of the mess we’d gotten ourselves into,” said Albany State head coach Mike White, who is looking to lead the Rams to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the eighth straight season. “We haven’t played well in the second half all season long, but we came out and did what we had to do to get the lead.”
After forcing FVSU to punt on its opening possession of the second half, Albany State (8-2, 6-1) took over on its own 20-yard line. Two plays later, Adrian Alexander took a handoff and raced 69 yards for a touchdown. Tory Torstenson’s kick was good, and the Rams led 17-14 with just more than 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.
On FVSU’s next possession, Albany State’s Tyrone Davis blocked the Wildcats’ punt, giving Albany State the ball at FVSU’s 4-yard line. It took one play for the Golden Rams to score this time, as Jennings found Darius Nelson for a 4-yard touchdown and Albany State’s lead grew to 23-14.
The Wildcats missed a 44-yard field goal on their next drive and Albany State’s offense picked right up where it left off, marching 68 yards in nine plays before Hamilton made another 22-yard field goal to push Albany State’s lead out to 26-14.
A 6-yard touchdown pass from Antonio Henton to Terrell Walker got FVSU back to within 26-21 with 9:54 to go in the game and the Wildcats’ defense forced a punt, but a fumble at FVSU’s 38 was recovered by Albany State’s Damien Goosby. Albany State cashed in the turnover as Jennings hit Ronnie Tubbs for a 24-yard touchdown pass to make it 32-21 with 3:11 remaining and salt the game away.
“We played well, but we didn’t play well enough to win,” FVSU head coach Donald Pittman said. “Our guys have fought all season and didn’t give up, but Albany State just played some tough defense when they needed to.”
Alexander added a third touchdown on a 15-yard run after another FVSU fumble late in the game and was named the game’s MVP for the Rams. He finished with 110 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries. Going into the game, Alexander -- a freshman from Macon -- had rushed for only 121 yards in Albany State’s first nine games.
“We’ve got a very balanced offense,” Jennings said. “We’ve got three or four good running backs in our backfield, and we feel like we can run or pass with any team. (Alexander) is probably one of the fastest guys in the SIAC.”
FVSU linebacker Courtney Daniel was named the Wildcats’ MVP for the game. Daniel, a senior from Eatonton, had 19 tackles (six solo, 13 assists) and a forced fumble.
