Behind a stout defense, a strong running game and some timely completions through the air, the Albany State Golden Tams defeated the Maroon Tigers of Morehouse, 31-7 in front of a crowd of 2603 at the Albany State University Coliseum.
Freshman running back JaQuez Williams put together a second consecutive strong performance piling up 240 yards and a touchdown on 233 carries.
The first Golden Rams scoring drive was the JaQuez Williams show. Williams’ longest run of the season, 74, yards, set the ASU offense up at the Maroon Tigers’ 6-yard line. Two plays later, Williams took it in from 6-yards out to put Albany State up 7-0.
The next Morehouse possession ended when Antonio Leroy intercepted a Khamar Carlisle pass, giving the ball right back to the ASU defense at the MHC 31-yard line. Runs from Marcuis Fulks, including a 10-yard carry that was his longest of the day, brought the Rams’ offense to the 19-yard line. The drive stalled there, leading to a 36-field goal off the foot of Eli Mashburn to put the Rams out in front 10-0.
Earlier in the quarter we saw the bad Jhaydon Sullivan when the sophomore signal caller threw an interception, that ended a drive that was itself started by the opportunistic Albany State defense when Antwan Gosser forced a fumble.
On the next Albany State offensive possession, the good Sullivan was on display when he connected with Jamil Williams on a 29-yard touchdown pass to put ASU up 17-0, where the score would remain heading into halftime.
The third quarter was , offensively speaking a largely quiet affair, with the teams trading punts throughout the period. The only scoring threat being a missed Mashburn 40-yard field goal attempt.
Albany State pushed their lead to 24-0 when Jhaydon Sullivan threw the second of his three touchdown pass on the day, a 38-yard strike down the middle to Ralph Lovett III.
An 8-play, 32-yard drive from the Maroon Tigers, following Sullivan’s second interception of the day, finally put Morehouse in the scoring column when Jaylon West ran it in from 10-yards out to cut the deficit to seventeen points at 24-7.
Later in the period, Williams’ second longest run of the day, 65-yards, took the Golden Rams down to the 8-yard line. Two plays later Sullivan tossed his third scoring pass of the day, 7-yards to Lovett for his second TD of the day, to put Albany State up 31-7.
It was another smothering performance for the Golden Rams’ “Dirty Blue” defense, as they held the Maroon Tigers to just 66-yards on the ground and 245 yards of total offense. Stephan Pierre and De’Travion Bishop had a sack and a tackle for a loss, with the former also having seven tackles.
With this win, Albany State ascends to (7-2, 5-1) and head into a Fountain City Classic matchup with Fort Valley State that likely will carry postseason implications for the victor.
For Morehouse, mercifully, the 2022 campaign will end with facing Clark Atlanta in a game that someone has to win.
