Saturday, November 16, 2013

SIAC Championship Buzz: Miles vs. Albany State

WHAT: Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship game: Miles (6-3) vs. Albany State (5-4)

WHEN: Today, 6 p.m. 

WHERE: Lakewood Stadium, Atlanta, Ga. 

THIS GAME DETERMINES: It's all for all the marbles in the SIAC. If Miles wins it will it will be another feather in the hat of coach Reginald Ruffin, who'd guided the team to a pair of conference championship appearances in three seasons and the school's first trip to the Division II playoffs. For Albany State, a victory would give it its 16th SIAC title and 20th conference championship in school history. 

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. Quarterback play. It's trite but both of these offenses will only go as far as their signal-callers take them. Expect David Thomas to get the start at quarterback for Miles. The redshirt senior from Opelika completed 30 of 40 attempts for 312 yards, five touchdowns and two interceptions and rushed for 104 yards and a score in the Golden Bears' 41-36 upset of Tuskegee last week. However, Ruffin won't be bashful about going to Alabama State transfer Demetrice Price if he has to. Price came on in the second half and helped Miles come back from down 20 in the fourth quarter in its 31-30 win at Stillman a couple weeks ago. For Albany State, it's all bout Frank Rivers. The 6-6, 220-pounder is a Birmingham native and played high school football around the corner from Miles' campus at Fairfield High. The Grambling St. transfer has completed 151 of 268 attempts for 1,898 yards, 18 touchdowns and two interceptions and is the league's second-leading rusher. 
 

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