Albany State hopes to finish strong

ALBANY — Tuskegee coach Willie Slater isn’t known for loud antics or long press conferences. His words are short and to the point.

But he isn’t afraid to heap praises on rival Albany State.

The two schools meet Saturday in the third annual White Water Classic at Garrett-Harrison Stadium in Phenix City at 5 p.m.

“Albany State is Albany State,” Slater said during the coaches weekly conference. “They have been the best team in the league since we have been here. Nothing has changed. They are a very good football team.”

While Slater isn’t afraid to share his respect for the Rams, he is 8-1 against Albany State in the past nine meetings, including a pair of victories over ASU in 2014. Tuskegee defeated the Rams during the regular season, then won a second time when the two met in Montgomery, Ala. for the conference title.

While the Tigers may have the upperhand recently, Albany State was the team to beat in the conference for several decades. That’s why ASU head coach Dan Land knows his team will get Tuskegee’s best shot.

“Tuskegee has a great team,” Land said. “Then again, everybody gets up to play Albany State. Everybody wants to beat Albany State. When you walk around with a target, that means that you have been doing something right. So Albany State has been doing something right because everybody is out to beat Albany State.”

While the Rams lost 16-7 to Valdosta State last week, many players believed they should have won. The Blazers scored 10 of their 16 points off turnovers and Albany State led until late in the third quarter.

With this week being spent on minimizing turnovers and correcting mistakes, the Rams like their chances in Saturday’s game.

“We’re excited because we know what we did last week,” Land said. “We know we have a decent team. We know it was just a couple mistakes that we made.”

One thing Land continues to emphasize is finishing strong. He said the Rams need to start quickly, but they also must play well for four quarters.

“You always want to try to finish the race in front,” he said. “Once you get in front, you don’t want to get behind and try to catch them to try to get back in front again. We don’t want that, so we have to make sure we start fast and stay playing fast the whole game.”