Albany State falls short against West Georgia

ALBANY — The crowd stood on its feet and waited for quarterback Caleb Edmonds to make one more play.

With 3:25 left against powerful West Georgia Saturday night at the Albany State University Coliseum, the Wolves defense flushed Edmonds out of the pocket, then stopped the senior quarterback short of the first down to force a late punt.

It was the last chance ASU had of a potential comeback against mighty West Georgia.

The Rams played hard, getting a gutsy effort from their defense but it wasn’t enough. Despite holding the Wolves scoreless in the second half, West Georgia held on for a 27-23 victory, spoiling Albany State’s home opener.

Much like they did in their season-opening loss at Valdosta State, Albany State outgained the Wolves in just about every statistical offensive category.

ASU fell to 1-3 on the season and there wasn’t much solace for Rams’ fans despite the school losing to NCAA Division II national powers Valdosta State, Tuskegee and West Georgia in three of Albany State’s first four games.

Simply put, Albany State played well enough to win, but the Rams could not overcome a devastating second quarter.

They trailed 27-14 at halftime, but the Rams used a third-quarter touchdown which Edmonds hit Ta’Keevian Harris on a 39-yard touchdown pass to pull themselves within striking distance. But that was as close as they got despite a valiant defensive effort.

Harris’ touchdown turned out to be the only offensive points by either team in the second half. West Georgia surrendered a safety with two seconds left, trying to burn the final seconds off the clock when its punter ran out of the back of the end zone.

West Georgia’s high-scoring offense scored just two touchdowns on drives of 37 and 39 yards respectively. ASU stifled the Wolves but couldn’t overcome miscues on special teams as well as a deadly pick-six that halted Albany State’s first-quarter momentum.

The game certainly didn’t start out well for the Rams.

After a failed fake punt attempt on ASU’s opening possession, West Georgia needed just five plays to move 37 yards when LeMarcus Franks scored on an 11-yard run for a 7-0 lead.

Albany State quickly answered when Michael Green hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Edmonds to tie the game at 7.

But on the ensuing kickoff, West Georgia’s Devontae Jackson dashed 97 yards for a score to give the Wolves a 13-7 advantage.

Albany State did manage to lead once in the game, taking its first lead at 14-13 with 3:22 left in the first quarter on McKinley Habersham’s 15-yard touchdown run.

However, that was the last lead the Rams saw.

West Georgia’s defense made a statement, getting a pick-six that A.J. Leggett returned 32 yards for a score and a 20-14 lead.

The Wolves added another score shortly before halftime to grab a 27-14 lead.