Albany State 14, Stillman 7

The bend-but-don’t-break Albany State University defense bent to the breaking point at the Albany Municipal Coliseum Thursday night, but in the end the Rams kept Stillman College’s Tigers out of the end zone in a nail-biter of a 14-7 victory.

                Senior linebacker Troy Williams’ interception inside the ASU 1-yard line on the first play of the fourth quarter turned out to be pivotal as the Rams held on for dear life to claim their second consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory. The win left ASU 2-2 overall.

                “We’re making progress,” Albany State head coach Mike White said after his team improved its win streak in SIAC games to 24. “We went into this game knowing we were in for a battle, and we got one. There are some things we know we’ve got to work on, but the ultimate goal is to win the game, stay undefeated in the conference.”

                Early in the nationally-televised (CSTV) contest, it didn’t appear that the Rams would need any late heroics when senior ASU defensive back Marcus Jefferson blocked a Tiger punt on the fourth play of the game and recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Matthew Hawthorne’s PAT kick gave the Rams a 7-0 lead at the 13:14 mark before many of the 5,033 fans in attendance had a chance to settle into their seats.

                A 10-yard, third-down Tiger punt at 6:09 in the second period set Albany State up at the Stillman 20, and five plays later the Rams doubled their lead. After freshman running back Gary Neavins’ 20-yard sprint to the end zone was nullified by a holding call, sophomore quarterback Kisan Flakes capped the drive on a 7-yard rollout. Justin Majors added the PAT.

                Stillman, which outgained ASU 296 yards to 229, put together its first scoring threat of the game in the final 3:47 of the half, driving from its 16 to the ASU 12 before a key sack by senior outside linebacker Eric Crosby helped end the threat.

                The Tigers cut Albany State’s lead in half at 5:46 in the third quarter when speedy punt return man Brian Witherspoon hauled in a Randy Allen punt at his 49 and raced 51 yards for a score.

                Williams’ interception, a near-miss of a Charles McCullum pass in the corner of the end zone with 45 seconds remaining and a final McCullum incompletion on fourth-and-8 from the Ram 19 left the Tigers with their second loss in three games and allowed the nervous ASU fans to finally let out a sigh of relief.

                “We’ve been spoiled the last few years; everyone just kind of expects our offense to get out there and roll,” White said. “But these guys are still trying to find themselves. It’s going to come; the staff will work hard to make sure we keep getting better each week.”

                Neavins finished the evening as the leading rusher for the Rams with 55 yards on 15 carries, while Flakes – who ran the Albany State offense most of the second half after splitting time with sophomore Terrance Ransom in the first half – connected on 7 of his 12 passes for 70 yards and an interception. Crosby paced the defense with eight tackles and one of its three sacks.

                McCollum completed 19 of 38 passes for 218 yards and scrambled 11 times for 48 yards to pace the Stillman offense.

                The Tigers will play at Miles College September 24, while ASU has a week off before facing Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., September 30.

                “We can use the week off,” White said. “We’ll rest up some folks who got banged up and work on things like pass blocking and stopping the run.”