Albany State gears up for annual Fountain City Classic

ALBANY — There are few things in life that are certain — death, taxes and the Fountain City Classic game between Albany State and Fort Valley State.

The series between the two began in 1945. In 1990, the game moved to Columbus, Ga. and officially became known as the Fountain City Classic. Albany State head coach Dan Land played for the Rams in the late ’80s before it moved to Columbus and said back then it felt like another homecoming game with both teams feeding off the crowd and fighting to protect their respective fields.

He said during his junior year, Albany State hosted the undefeated Wildcats while boasting an 8-1 record. They squared off at Hugh Mills Stadium against a squad that had Greg Lloyd, Eddie Anderson and Darryl Holmes, three players that eventually went on to play in the NFL.

Land recalled the amount of scouts in attendance and how he stole the show, scoring three touchdowns nearly 200 yards rushing to help the Rams win 23-3.

“It was a big time game and they ended up watching me more than they were watching them,” Land said with a chuckle. “So that was one of the moments when I played that I remember.”

Since the Fountain City Classic was born, the Rams have dominated the series 19-6 including a dramatic 19-10 win last year.

But offensive coordinator Steve Smith recalled the 35-13 loss suffered his first year as an assistant. Before that, the Rams had won seven straight.

“It’s always bad when you lose to Fort Valley. You don’t want to lose to them and lose the opportunity to be number one,” he said. “I think that was when Pit (current FVS head coach Donald Pittman) had just left and went to Fort Valley…(our starting quarterback at the time) tried to prove certain things.

“It’s a lot like last week with coach Mike White, a lot guys trying to prove that ‘Hey, I can play.’ It was one of those scenarios and he didn’t play well and it hurt us. But we didn’t play well as an offense, period.”

The Rams bounced back and won five of the next six.

Part of what makes the rivalry special, according to Land, is how similar the teams are every year. Both teams are undefeated in the SIAC East and need the win to punch their ticket to the SIAC Championship game. Their coaching staffs have worked closely with one another at some point, making it that much more interesting.

“It’s always been that relationship where the two teams’ coaches are friends and know each other very well,” Land said. “You know what they’re gonna do and they know what we’re gonna do and that’s what always made the rivalry special because of the relationship we had between the two teams.”

Smith noted that relationship between the two communities always makes for a good game.

“The fanbase and the alumni is what makes it what it is” he said. “ It’s two blue and gold teams, two HBCUs, two close HBCUs, and I think that makes the rivalry. You’ve got a lot of people from Albany that go to Fort Valley and a lot of people from Fort Valley that go to Albany, so you got that clash of two cities.”