Fort Valley State stuns Albany State to win SIAC East Division

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Fort Valley State scored 21 unanswered points in the second half Saturday to beat Albany State 21-17 in the 27th Annual Fountain City Classic at AJ McClung Memorial Stadium.

The Wildcats rallied from a 17-0 halftime deficit to stun the Rams and capture the SIAC East Division title.

With the victory, Fort Valley State (4-6, 3-1) advances to the conference championship game and they will play Kentucky State next Saturday in Montgomery. Kentucky State defeated Fort Valley State in the regular season 26-10.

“This is huge for our program, huge for our kids,” said Fort Valley State coach Kevin Porter. “I’m happy for the fans. It’s been a while since we’ve beaten Albany State. They have a fabulous program.”

The loss ends a three-year streak of appearances in the title game for ASU, who lost to Miles College last year. The Rams’ last SIAC title was in 2013.

The game was all Albany State in the first half. The Rams took the opening drive 67 yards for a touchdown when Caleb Edmonds passed four yards to Treyvon Vallery for a 7-0 advantage.

Albany State made it 14-0 in the first quarter when Vallery scored from a yard out, which completed a 12-play, 61-yard drive.

Offensively, the Rams were led by Edmonds, who passed for 131 yards and rushed for 44, and Vallery, who scored two touchdowns.

Albany State added a field goal in the second quarter to build a 17-0 halftime advantage.

In the second half, however, the defense stepped up for Fort Valley State and shut out the Rams. The Wildcats defense was led by senior defensive back Brian Walker, who recorded nine tackles, 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Williams was named MVP of the game.

“It feels great,” said Williams. “I’m very excited. Can’t wait to play Kentucky State next week.”

Offensively, Fort Valley State looked sharper in the second half and came out aggressively throwing the ball more.

At 12:12 to play in the third quarter, Otis Brown connected with Bodarius Johnson for an 18-yard scoring strike, cutting the score to 17-7.

Then in the early fourth quarter, Fort Valley struck again when Samuel Ryan returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown. That trimmed the score to 17-14.

The winning score for Fort Valley came at 9:45 in the fourth quarter when Brown found Johnson again for a 39-yard touchdown across the middle of the field.

Albany State threatened to score late in the fourth quarter but twice they failed to convert on fourth down and turned the ball over on downs.