It’s rivalry weekend between the Albany State Golden Rams and the Fort Valley State Wildcats in the 35th year of the Fountain City Classic. Fort Valley State found itself leaning on its defense early in the game, hoping it could provide the Wildcats additional offensive opportunities by forcing the Golden Rams’ offense to turn over the ball. The Golden Rams made several mistakes early in the game, including the missed field goal, and the offense stopped on fourth down inside the 5-yard line by Wildcats linebacker Jayden Walker made several key defensive goal-line stands early in the game, preventing the Golden Rams of Albany State from scoring points and turning the ball over on downs to his Wildcats’ offense early in the game. The Albany State defense made things difficult for the Wildcats’ offense the entire game, forcing a total of 5 turnovers.
The Wildcats were without True Freshman quarterback Don Hudson Jr, due to injury, and were led by Donovan Anthony, who had a rough day in this year’s Fountain City Classic, completing 2 passes for 22 yards and 1 interception. Fort Valley State Coach Watson, looking to generate an offensive spark, played several quarterbacks in the game. The Golden Rams’ defense prevented the Wildcats from establishing a rushing attack, forcing the Wildcats to beat them with their quarterbacks throwing the ball. Saadiq Teel completed 2 passes for 22 yards and 1 interception by Albany State Defensive back Tyrell Gainey that was returned for a touchdown. The Wildcats found themselves climbing out of a big hole, down in the first half 35 to 3. The Wildcats’ head coach moved on to quarterback Jai’que Hart completed 5 passes for 42 yards and 1 interception that was returned for a touchdown by Golden Rams defensive back Devonte James.
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The Golden Rams’ defense played with aggression, and discipline continued to confuse the Wildcats’ quarterbacks by showing one defensive coverage during their presnap reads and changing the coverage once the ball was snapped throughout the game. The Wildcats tried to find answers to unlock their offense came up short, leaving several opportunities to move their offense down the field to position themselves to score points failed due to mental mistakes.
The Golden Rams offense was able to set up their passing attack using their rushing attack led by Sincere Rodriguez, with 12 carries for 74 yards, and the team rushed for 159 yards total and three rushing touchdowns. Albany State quarterback Isaiah Knowles completed 13 passes for 160 yards and was able to connect with his tight end, Jamarion Davis, for the first touchdown score of the game caught 3 passes for 29 yards.
Albany State Head Coach Gray decided to open up the playbook and inserted running back Tiant Wyche as quarterback, who completed a touchdown pass to Jamaill Williams. Both of these teams were penalized heavenly during this game. The Wildcats’ players’ emotions got the best of them in the first half, saw offensive drives stall because of the penalties. The Wildcats were penalized 12 times for 95 yards, and Albany State added 11 penalties for 135 yards. The Golden Rams must find a way to slow down being penalized so much because it could become costly as they continue into the SIAC Championship game and the Division II playoffs.
Albany State is the winner of the 35th Fountain City Classic with a score of 48-3 and will move on to play in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship. They await to see who their opponent will be in that game at the Albany State University Coliseum on November 15th at 1:00 PM.