Albany State Golden Rams'Ground Game Topples Miles

ALBANY, Georgia -- The Albany State University Golden Rams improved to 2-3 overall and remained perfect in SIAC play with a 30-24 triumph over Miles College Saturday evening at ASU Coliseum.

With the loss, Miles drops to 0-5 on the season (SIAC 0-2)

Saturday's initial kickoff was delayed due to lightning and heavy rain however the teams were eventually able to take the field and the contest kicked off about an hour late at 8:05pm.

The teams were virtually even in total offense; 342 yards for Miles to 357 for ASU. The Golden Bears ran 72 plays for an average of 4.8 yards per play while the Rams averaged 6.6 yards on 54 plays from scrimmage.

Defensively ASU was paced by Coemba Jones who finished the night with 9 tackles (7 solo) and two pass breakups.

The Golden Rams and Golden Tigers both came up empty on their first two offensive drives. Miles would get on the board first in the game's fifth offensive set when a 9-play, 35-yard drive resulted in a 33-yard field goal from Jackson Spradlin with 53 seconds left in the opening quarter.

ASU's rushing attack averaged 7.2 yards per carry on the night and gained 303 yards (279 net) including four rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Kelias Williams called his own number seven times for 41 yards and two scores while Tracy Scott and Kelan Fraise also registered rushing touchdowns.

McKinley Habersham led the charge for the Golden Rams with a season high 140 yards on 15 touches.



BOX SCORE

The first play of the second half came courtesy of Habersham, a 46-yard carry down to the Golden Bears' 26-yard line. Two plays later Fraise scampered to the end zone from 20-yards out and an extra point later ASU led 14-10.

Two ASU drives later, all it took was a single touch after Mike Green returned a punt into Miles' territory. On snap later, Tracy Scott scored on a 36-yard scoring run, pushing the Rams' lead to 21-10 with 6:08 left in the third.

On the ensuing drive, and aided by two personal fouls by the Rams, Miles tightened the score at 21-17 with an 86-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard rushing TD from Justin Hardy.

With 11:15 left in the game, the Golden Rams got some much-needed cushion when Gabriel Ballinas hit a field goal from 41 yards out. Kelias Williams later extended the lead to 30-17 with his second rushing score of the night, an 11-yard run with 8:35 remaining. The Bears responded with a touchdown on the end of an 86-yard drive with 2:58 to go but it consumed nearly five and a half minutes off the game clock.

Facing a 3rdand 11, the Rams reached the Miles 40 on a 10 yard on pass from Williams to Ta'Keevian Harris. After two called timeouts, Albany State sealed the win with a 4thdown conversion on a one yard carry by Habersham.

The Rams lost their initial lead right before the first half expired when the Bears' Daniel Smith connected with Padarius Martin on a 29-yard passing touchdown to put Miles ahead 10-7 at halftime.

The Golden Rams will hit the road next weekend when they travel to Salisbury, North Carolina to face off against Catawba College in a non-conference tilt. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm.

ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS