Albany State looks toward rival Ft. Valley after huge win over Miles College

ALBANY — The Albany State Golden Rams will close the regular season next Saturday in the “Fountain City Classic” and a win over archrival Ft. Valley State could possibly put Albany State into the SIAC championship game despite two SIAC losses.

Since the SIAC eliminated the division set-up this year, the two schools with the highest conference winning percentage will play for the championship. Ft. Valley (7-2, 6-1) and Tuskegee (7-2, 6-1) have identical records and lead for the second spot at the moment. If they both win Saturday, Tuskegee will play undefeated Benedict. If Albany State beats Ft. Valley and Miles beats Tuskegee then several tiebreakers would be used to determine who would play Benedict and Albany State would be in the mix because ASU, Ft. Valley State, Tuskegee, Miles, and Allen would all have two conference losses.

The Golden Rams of Albany State made all of that a possibility by smashing Miles 48-7 Saturday afternoon at the Albany State Coliseum. Led by three touchdown passes from quarterback Dionte Bonneau and a 75-yard touchdown run from running back Aljhanod Thomas, big plays brought the hometown crowd to their feet. The Golden Rams are now 5-4 overall and 5-2 in the SIAC.

Bonneau, a graduate student from Atlanta, finished the day with 262 yards passing and three touchdowns. He completed 15 of 29 passes. He also ran eight times for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Albany State built a 31-7 halftime lead that began with a 35-yard field goal from Eli Mashburn and the Rams got a break later in the first quarter with a Miles punt that went just 21 yards and gave ASU the ball at the Miles 29. Bonneau promptly hit Ralph Lovett with a 23-yard pass and moments later, Frederick Gaines carried the ball into the end zone for a six-yard touchdown run.

The Golden Bears closed the gap to 10-7 early in the second quarter, but Bonneau found Lovett for a 47-yard touchdown pass and then hit him again with a 61-yard touchdown pass as the Rams began to open up and pull away from the Bears.

In the second half, running back Aljhanod Thomas broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run and Bonneau hit Lovett for an 18-yard touchdown pass to cap the scoring.

Lovett, a senior from Savannah, was Bonneau’s favorite target on Saturday. He caught five passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns.

Albany State’s “Dirty Blue” defense sacked Miles quarterback Karn Ivory four times and picked off two of his passes. Rosendo Louis led the defense with 10 tackles and Derrick Drayton pulled down eight, including one of those sacks. Daytin Baker and D’Avary Weeks grabbed the interceptions for the Rams.

Albany State and Fort Valley are scheduled to meet Satuday in Columbus for the annual Fountain City Classic at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Ft. Valley (7-2, 6-1) beat Virginia University 37-26 Saturday. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.

JoeWhitfield[email protected]