Albany State looks to extend streak against Morehouse

ALBANY — It’s homecoming at Albany State and among the traditions and the festivities comes the game.

The Albany State football team, which sits at 2-3, has come to create a tradition of their own when it comes to playing today’s visiting Morehouse Tigers.

The Rams and Maroon Tigers will meet for the 35th time. Albany State leads the series 27-7-0 and has won the last six meetings. The two programs played in 2014 and Albany State won 31-14.

Albany State recorded their second win of the season on a come-from-behind 29-16 victory against Miles College before last week’s bye. Jarvis Small recorded another 100-yard rushing game with 111, while Nick Scott and Tavarius Washington led the defense with five total tackles apiece.

The Tigers come into Saturday’s game with a 3-3 record after a 35-7 loss to Tuskegee last week. Despite history being on their side, defensive backs and special teams coach Chris Henderson said they still must rise to the occasion and face the number one offense in the conference.

The Tigers are averaging 143.3 rushing yards per game and 183.3 passing yards for a total average of 326.6. They’ll have to make things hard for Morehouse quarterback Monquavious Johnson. The junior comes into the Saturday’s contest having completed 53 percent of his passes for a total of 984 yards and 11 touchdowns.

As the Rams continue to fight for a spot in the SIAC title game, head coach Dan Land said he wants to see both units improve.

“I need to see the offense score more points,” he said. “That’s what we’re working so hard for. I’d also like to see a couple shutouts from the defense. Defense is playing well, but it’s always comforting to know that if a team don’t score, they can’t win. So I’d like to see a shutout from them.”

Henderson said at this point, he sees the defense playing together as a unit. The increased team chemistry has helped them play better fundamentally.

“We’ve really just got to be consistent in what we do and play sound fundamental football,” he said. “We do that, then everything else will take care of itself.”

The defense has been holding teams to 294.6 yards of total offense per game, 117.6 rushing and 177 passing as well as 22 points per game. To take it to the next level, defensive coordinator Charles Huff said his team is going to have to make big plays every chance they get and force more turnovers. He feels that they are more than ready to take on the high-powered Tiger offense.

“We’re gonna play fundamentally sound, we’re gonna play hard,” he said. “We’re gonna execute, stop the run, make them throw the football and get after them. They’re a good offensive team, but we think we’re good enough to stop them.”