Albany State looks to close season out on high note

ALBANY — Beat Fort Valley State.

That’s not just a goal for Albany State students, alumni and fans alike, it is THE goal. In years past the Fountain City Classic has determined who will play in the SIAC Championship, but this year the rivalry matchup will determine mood of the Rams as they head into the offseason.

Last week’s 17-12 loss to Benedict eliminated the Rams from contention to represent the East in the SIAC Championship. But Saturday’s 2 p.m. game against the Wildcats at Memorial Stadium in Columbus will go a long way toward setting the tone for 2018 preparations.

Albany State showed some life late in the Benedict loss, scoring all of its points in the fourth quarter,

Wide receiver Mike Green’s play-making had plenty to do with the late surge. Green caught touchdowns from two different quarterbacks late and said while things didn’t turn out how they would have hoped, he’s confident the it serve as a learning experience and only make the team stronger.

“We’ve just got to come out and go harder, in the offseason and in this game coming up,” he said after the Benedict game. “Even though we can’t go to the SIAC Championship, it still gives us better experience and better experience for first-year players to come back next year and play harder. We know what we’ve got to do and we know what we’ve got to work on to come back and play harder.”

Head coach Gabe Giardina said the game showed his team has some growing to do, particularly his offensive and defensive line.

“O-line, we’ve got to play a little bit better. I think Benedict really controlled the line of scrimmage on us and we tried to game plan around some of those things and build a perimeter run game just to try to neutralize some of their size and their strength,” he said. “That’s something we gotta grow and get better and get our guys in better shape. That takes time; you don’t just get strong in three months.”

This week, Albany State faces a red-hot Fort Valley State team fresh off a 52-7 win over Morehouse.

The Wildcats have won four in a row and swept the weekly conference honors. Running back Justin Hardy was named Offensive Player of the week, defensive lineman Walter Tucker Defensive Player of the Week, place-kicker Juan Serna Specialist of the Week and wide receiver Tajee Steele Newcomer of the Week.

Fort Valley State comes into the contest averaging 351 yards of total offense, 207 of them coming through the air.

“They’re obviously hot right now,” Giardina said. “They’re a physical football team, they run it right at you. They’re smart with their gameplan. They’ve got a lot of things that set up other things. We gotta play well up front.

“Defensively, they do a good job of mixing their calls and playing some zone and playing some man. So it’s going to be a test.”