Albany State 45, Clark Atlanta 12

October 15, 2005

The Albany State University Golden Rams spoiled Clark Atlanta University’s homecoming by defeating the Panthers, 45-12, before a crowd of 2,937 in Atlanta, Ga.

ASU quarterback Hosea Harris led the Golden Ram troops in battle with 131 passing yards, with touchdown passes of 48 yards to Antonio Atkins early in the first quarter, and 15 yards to Joshua Johnson in the third quarter. Harris rushed for another 67 yards on nine carries. Atkins’ reception on a two-play, 37-yard drive put Albany State on the scoreboard first with six points. The score would remain 6-0 after a missed PAT by Matthew Hawthorne.

Clark Atlanta answered when Monyel Williams intercepted a Harris pass and returned the ball 82 yards to tie the score. The score remained tied at six after a blocked PAT attempt by CAU’s Brian Merrill.

Late in the second quarter, Antwan Andrews, who rushed for 64 yards on 20 carries, dashed one yard into the Clark Atlanta end zone, and Harris’ pass to Atkins on the two-point conversion gave the Golden Rams a 14-6 lead at the half. Atkins rushed for 28 yards on 11 carries for the game.

On the first play of Clark Atlanta’s second drive in the third quarter, ASU’s Eric Crosby intercepted a Panther pass by Adrian Johnson to set up a scoring drive for the Golden Rams. Ten plays and 49 yards later, Johnson’s 15-yard touchdown reception gave ASU a 21-6 lead with 6:13 on the clock. On the Panthers’ next possession, Johnson fumbled and ASU’s Marcus Jefferson recovered and returned the ball 55 yards to the Clark Atlanta three yard line to set up another ASU scoring drive. Andrews rushed two yards into the Panther end zone to give ASU a 28-6 lead with 2:50 on the clock.

ASU’s backup quarterback Terrance Ransom would get a chance to shine as he completed a four-yard touchdown pass to Atkins on a three-play, 15-yard drive to up ASU’s score to 38-6 over the Panthers early in the fourth quarter. The Panthers answered with a quarterback keeper when Johnson ran seven yards into the Golden Rams end zone on a four-play, 13-yard drive with 6:13 on the clock. Johnson’s two-point conversion failed, leaving the score at 38-12 in the Rams’ favor. On CAU’s very next possession, Johnson received a bad snap and fumbled the ball, giving the Rams an opportunity to add another seven points to the scoreboard. ASU’s Jonathan Vital recovered the ball in the CAU end zone to seal the victory for the Golden Rams.

The Golden Rams racked up 284 total offensive yards, including 149 rushing and 135 passing yards on 63 plays, while the Panthers had 228 total offensive yards, including 214 rushing yards and 14 passing yards.

On the other side of the ball, Roderick Cummings led the “Dirty Blue” defense with 12 tackles (two solos) with three tackles for a loss of five yards, and Crosby added eight tackles (four solos) with three tackles for a loss of 13 yards.

The Golden Rams improve their record to 5-1 overall and 5-1 in the SIAC, while the Panthers drop to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Albany State will celebrate Homecoming 2005 on Oct. 22 against the Benedict College Tigers. Kickoff is 1:30 p.m. at the Albany Municipal Coliseum in Albany.