ASU falls to 1-4 with loss to Lane

JACKSON, Tenn. — Derrick Burroughs had seen this before. Plenty of Lane fans have seen it, too.

Up 13 points with eight minutes left, the Dragons gave up two straight touchdowns Saturday to Albany State and trailed by a point with less than four minutes left. Had Lane ruined its chance?

Not Saturday. Chris Rini threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Bradley Landrum with 33 seconds left, and Lane beat Albany State 37-31 Saturday in Jackson.

It was Lane’s second victory ever against Albany State. The first was two years ago in Jackson. The loss dropped Albany State’s record to 1-4, the team’s worst in more than a decade.

Michael Ruffin’s interception off Rams quarterback Frank Rivers in the closing seconds sealed it for Lane (4-2, 2-1 SIAC).

The Dragons beat Stillman last week by a point, while ASU, which is now 0-2 in the conference, was off last week but lost two weeks ago to Miles. Burroughs’ early Lane teams always seemed to lose such tight, back-and-forth games. This one, so far, seems to win them.

“With these guys who have been together for a minute, now they know how to win these games,” Burroughs said.

Trailing 31-30, Lane started from its own 40 with less than four minutes to go. Key plays on the drive included a Jerald Hatchett run on fourth-and-two and a Rini pass that Greg Moore took to the 19-yard line.

An Albany State penalty and a short Rini run to the 6 set up Lane’s game-winner.

After the snap, most Dragons moved to the right side of the end zone and the Albany State defenders followed. Landrum was all by himself on the left side, so the crowd cheered as soon as Rini let go of the ball.

Landrum caught it, kept his feet in bounds and Lane escaped.

“We did it all week,” Moore said. “I knew the play was gonna work and when it did, man, I was ready to celebrate.”

Defensive back Jack Howard had a key pass breakup to prevent a touchdown, but his unit allowed over 500 yards of offense Saturday. The mistakes, though, didn’t matter after the last-minute touchdown.

“I was just thinking, ‘I love you, Rini,’” Howard said with a smile.

Rini ran for two touchdowns and threw two touchdown passes Saturday, the first to Moore for a 23-17 lead.

Moore finished with eight catches for 171 yards, nearly half of Rini’s passing total (350).

“(Saturday) the offense carried us. We had to outscore them and that’s what they did,” Burroughs said.

Lane’s defense did contribute some points early. Brandon Bias forced a fumble that Jerry Carter scooped up for a touchdown run down the sideline and a 16-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, a quarterback keeper put Lane ahead 30-17 with 8:01 left, but Albany State struck twice.

Rivers used three consecutive first-down passes to get his team downfield and soon scored with a touchdown plunge.

Lane responded with a punt, and Rivers threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to Leonard Walker for a 31-30 ASU lead.

Instead of wilting, Lane rallied from there.

“We just feel like this is our year, man,” Moore said. “We’ve been through so much and we’ve fought through a lot of adversity. Coach had us prepared so we’re really just ready to get on a roll.”

ASU limps back to Albany on a two-game skid entering homecoming next Saturday against Morehouse.