Albany State beats Shorter 37-14, clinches 25th straight winning season

ROME, Ga. — Twenty-five years. Hundreds of football games. Generations of players and coaches.

And not one losing season.

Albany State wasn’t about to let that streak end Saturday afternoon.

With a winning record and a quarter-century of football tradition hanging in the balance, the Golden Rams delivered one of their most complete performances of the season, overwhelming Shorter University 37-14 at Barron Stadium.

They scored through the air. They scored on the ground. They scored on defense. They even turned a blocked punt into a touchdown.

And when the afternoon was over, Albany State had something considerably more important than another victory.

The Golden Rams had preserved a tradition.

Albany State finished 6-5, extending what the university identifies as the longest active streak of winning football seasons among historically Black colleges and universities to 25 consecutive years. The Golden Rams haven’t endured a losing season since 2001.

For first-year head coach David Bowser, that meant more than the final score.

“When you talk about a place like Albany State, that deserves the very best because the standards have been set high long before I got here,” Bowser said during his postgame interview.

Bowser spoke about the responsibility of following the coaches who helped establish Albany State’s reputation as one of the South’s most respected Division II football programs.

“It was a great responsibility when I signed on to come here to carry on that legacy,” he said.

Saturday, his players made sure that legacy remained intact.

The Golden Rams wasted little time establishing control against the Hawks (3-8).

Quarterback Jeffery “J.D.” Davis directed a 70-yard scoring drive on Albany State’s first possession, finishing it with a 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Omarion Dupree.

Just 95 seconds later, freshman Nigel Pittman delivered one of the afternoon’s biggest plays.

Pittman broke through Shorter’s punt protection, blocked the kick, recovered the loose football at the 6-yard line and carried it into the end zone.

Two touchdowns in less than two minutes.

Albany State led 14-0, and the Hawks were already in trouble.

The Golden Rams weren’t finished.

Early in the second quarter, Kyle Williams recovered a Shorter fumble at the Hawks’ 23-yard line. Two plays later, Roderick McCrary burst through the defense for a 17-yard touchdown run.

Then it was Elijah Watson’s turn.

With Shorter trying to generate some offense, Watson intercepted quarterback Jeb Walls and raced 40 yards downfield for a touchdown.

Albany State led 28-0 at halftime.

Four touchdowns. Three different phases of the game. And a defense that had completely shut down the Hawks.

“I’m really proud of the team collectively,” Bowser said. “Once again, all phases hit. We were able to run the ball today. I thought J.D. Davis did a good job of managing the offense. Our defense was outstanding.”

The Golden Rams weren’t merely protecting a lead. They were playing the kind of football Bowser had been looking for throughout his first season.

Davis completed 17 of 24 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, directing an offense that accumulated 336 total yards.

Albany State rushed for 178 yards, averaging 5.6 yards per carry, while its defense limited Shorter to just 71 yards on 29 rushing attempts.

McCrary led the Golden Rams on the ground with 47 yards on eight carries, while Jaquan Graham caught four passes for 67 yards.

Graham provided another highlight in the third quarter.

Facing fourth-and-15 at the Shorter 29, Davis found Graham for a touchdown, completing a 14-play, 84-yard drive that consumed more than six minutes.

The score pushed Albany State’s advantage to 34-0.

By then, the outcome was no longer in doubt.

Shorter finally reached the end zone early in the fourth quarter when Walls connected with Tristan Keigley for a 9-yard touchdown.

Albany State answered with a 24-yard field goal by Jonathan Rodriguez, who also handled the punting and kickoff duties. Rodriguez converted four extra points, averaged 39.2 yards on four punts and placed two inside the Shorter 20.

The Golden Rams even pulled off a little special-teams trickery in the fourth quarter when Ian Rembert raced 41 yards on a fake punt to keep a scoring drive alive.

Shorter added a late touchdown on a 35-yard pass from Walls to Kyree Jenkins, but the Hawks’ fourth-quarter scoring did little to diminish Albany State’s defensive performance.

Shorter managed only 234 yards of total offense, with 112 coming in the fourth quarter.

De’Avary Weeks led Albany State with nine tackles, including five solo stops. Derrick Drayton added six, and Williams finished with five. Evan Wynn and Quentis Adams Jr. each recorded a sack.

The Golden Rams also forced two turnovers, including Watson’s touchdown interception.

For Bowser, the victory provided a fitting conclusion to a season that had threatened to slip away.

Albany State stood 3-5 before winning its final three games. The Golden Rams closed with consecutive dominant performances, routing longtime rival Fort Valley State 49-0 in the Fountain City Classic before overwhelming Shorter.

They outscored those final two opponents 86-14.

A team that had been fighting simply to avoid a losing season suddenly finished with momentum, confidence and renewed expectations.

“It’s exciting because now you get a three-game winning streak to close out the season,” Bowser said. “That’s big. That goes into recruiting. That’s going to help us big.”

Bowser also pointed to the number of returning starters who will be back for winter workouts and spring practice.

The Golden Rams will enter the offseason hoping to build on their late-season surge and return to contention for the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship and NCAA Division II playoffs.

But those goals can wait.

Saturday was about finishing what generations of Albany State players had started.

The Golden Rams needed one more victory to keep 25 years of winning football alive.

They got it.

And they made sure there was never much doubt.