ROME, Ga. — The Golden Rams had their sights set on one mission – a winning season – and mission accomplished. Albany State scored twice over a 1:35 time period of the first quarter and put points on the scoreboard five different ways as it pounced on Shorter University, 37-14, in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference/Conference Carolinas Football Challenge Saturday afternoon.
After forcing an opening Hawks punt, the Golden Rams drove 70 yards in eight plays where quarterback
Jeffery Davis found the SIAC's top tight end Omarion Dupree from 4 yards for the first touchdown. Following three home plays, freshman
Nigel Pittman raced through the Shorter punt formation to not only block the punt but picked it up at the 6-yard line for the touchdown and quick 14-0 lead. ASU never looked back as it continued to build the lead to 34-0 before the end of the third quarter.
With the victory, the Golden Rams celebrate extending HBCU football's longest football winning season streak to 25 seasons! ASU improved to 6-5 and has now not had a losing gridiron campaign since 2001, before many current Golden Rams were born. The victory also gives ASU Head Coach
David Bowser his first winning season at the Golden Ram helm.
"I am proud of the team collectively. Once again, all phases hit (for us)," explained ASU Head Coach
David Bowser. "We were able to run the ball today and I thought JD Davis did a good job of managing the offense. The defense was outstanding as the points came at the end when we started subbing. Our special teams again shined. Coach Schultz did an outstanding job of having those guys prepare and be ready to roll."
Along with the touchdown pass and blocked punt for a score, ASU did not give preference to how its points were scored. In the second quarter and second pair of touchdowns, Rodrick McCrary ran in a 17-yard rush and
Elijah Watson picked off a pass and rambled down the sideline 35 yards for the team's fourth score. After a beautiful 29-yard scoring strike to
Jaquan Graham from Davis in the third,
Jonathan Rodriguez added a 24-yard field goal as the fifth different scoring variety.
ASU moves to 3-0 all-time against Shorter (3-8) with the going away win. The Golden Rams also finish the 2026 campaign on a 3-game win streak heading to ride into next year by outscoring their final two foes by a combined 86-14 margin, including the 49-0 thumping of rival Fort Valley State the previous week.
"It's exciting to get the 3-game win streak to close out the season. That's big as it goes into our recruiting (for next year). We also have a lot of guys coming back, who were starters this year," exclaims Bowser. "Just gets us excited for what's ahead."
The stout Ram defense held the Hawks to only 71 yards rushing on 29 carries and a meager 234 yards on 54 plays of the day with 112 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter with all dressed players getting into the action.
In contrast, ASU totaled 336 yards of total offense on 61 plays with a balanced 178 yards on the ground and 158 through the air. Davis led the attack where he was 17 of 24 for 142 yards and two touchdowns along with five rushes for 26 yards.
On the ground, McCrary led the way with 47 yards on eight totes and the 17-yard score and one 6-yard catch.
Jayden Threatts, who also caught 3 passes for 11 yards, and
Vinson Berry ran for 17 yards a piece and
William Heck, who also had an 18-yard catch, for 15 yards.
Graham pulled in four passes for 67 yards and the 29-yard touchdown. Exhavior Sherrod grabbed a pass for 18 yards and
Cardrece Mobley had two catches for 13 yards.
Defensively,
De'Avary Weeks recorded a season-best nine tackles, five solo, with a QB hurry.
Derrick Drayton had six and
Kyle Williams five stops. Each of
Rontavion Scott,
Cameron Watts and
Ricky McCrary added four tackles.
Ian Rembert recorded a tackle for loss to go with a 41-yard fake punt run.
Evan Wynn and
Quentis Adams sacked the Shorter quarterback one time each and
Caleb Anderson had a tackle for loss. Watson returned his first collegiate interception 35 yards for the touchdown.
On special teams, Rodriguez made 4 of 5 points after attempts to go with the 24-yard field goal. He also averaged 39.2 yards on four punts with two inside the 20-yard line and a touchback. The freshman also boomed seven kick-offs for a 63.7-yard average.
The Golden Rams now look to ride the 3-game win streak finish into a return to the 2027 SIAC Championship Game and NCAA Division II playoffs.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is an NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) headquartered in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and eight women's sports and is a proud member of NCAA Division II. For more information, visit www.thesiac.com.