ASU Wins Fountain City Classic, Sweeps SIAC East

COLUMBUS, Georgia -- Albany State completed its sweep of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Eastern Division on Saturday, Nov. 3, defeating rival Fort Valley State University, 40-6, in the 29th Annual Fountain City Classic at A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium.

With the win, the Golden Rams are now 22-7 against Fort Valley State since the rivalry game moved to Columbus in 1990.

ASU (7-3) will carry a seven-game win streak into next the SIAC Football Championship next Saturday, Nov. 10 when it travels to SIAC West Champion Miles College. Kickoff is 3 p.m. ET in Fairfield, Alabama. The Golden Rams defeated the Miles Golden Bears, 30-24, earlier this season.

In the regular season finale, Gabriel Ballinas connected on four field goals during the day, including ones from 33 and 41 yards in the first quarter to put ASU in front 6-0. Ta'Keevian Harris added a 5-yard touchdown reception from Kelias Williams with 3:42 to play in the opening quarter to stretch the lead, 13-0.

Fort Valley State's only points came with 7:40 to play in the second quarter on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Garrel Quainton to Mekall Yancie. The extra point was missed, 13-6. Quainton led the Wildcats' offense with 103 yards on 5-of-14 passing, but -4 yards rushing.

Ballinas closed the half with his third field goal from 34 yards out to extend the Golden Rams' halftime lead to 16-6.

Late in the second half, Albany State scored 17 points in less than four minutes. McKinley Habersham punched in a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:18 to play in the quarter. Ballinas, who accounted for 15 points on the day, kicked a 44-yard field goal with 2:04 to play in the third quarter and Tracy Scott added an 18-yard TD run for a 33-6 lead entering the final 15 minutes. Scott was named the Fountain City Classic MVP with 121 yard rushing on 12 carries.

Jalen Bush capped the Rams' blocking a punt a returning it 15 yards for a touchdown with 12:54 to play in the game. Bush also had ASU's only takeaway of the game, an interception in the third quarter.

Albany State dominated the ground game with 225 yards to Fort Valley State's 54 yards. ASU compiled 302 total yards in the win with Williams completing 7-of-18 passes for 77 yards.

Antonio Leroy, Martery Brown and Tyler Scott each had six tackles to lead the ASU defense with Leroy adding a sack and quarterback hurry.

ATTENDANCE: 28,346

BOX SCORE

Cameron Young led the Wildcats' defense with nine stops, while Zach Anderson and David Brown each had eight.

The SIAC Football Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Tickets are $20 for regular seating and $30 premium seating. A pre-championship coaches' press conference will be at noon CT on Nov. 9. For more information, visit the SIAC Championship page, here.