WINNSBORO, S.C. —
Savannah State put a halt to their two game losing skid with a 23-20 overtime win against
Allen on Saturday night at EK McClendon Stadium on the campus of Fairfield Central High School.
In the extra session, the Tigers had the ball first and was unable to find the end zone but used a 25-yard field goal by
Jimmy Tran to go ahead 23-20.
Allen fumbled the ball on the first play of their possession and it was recovered by
Darrian Bell to seal the win for Savannah State.
The victory keeps the Tigers in the SIAC playoff conversation with a 2-2 conference record.
Benedict and Albany State sit atop the SIAC standings while Kentucky State and Edward Waters both have one conference loss. SSU and Morehouse have 2-2 SIAC records.
Allen converted a interception thrown by
Christian Burks into a touchdown. The extra point was blocked by
James Shellman IV and the Yellow Jackets led 6-0 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
Savannah State answered when Tran hit a 31 yard field goal with 41 seconds remaining in the quarter to wrap up a 9-play, 65-yard drive.
Early in the second quarter, Shellman picked off a pass at the SSU 40 and the Tigers responded with a 1-yard touchdown run from
Joseph Hampton with 13:45 on the clock. A key play on the drive was a 54-yard pass play from
Fabian Walker to
Cinsere Clark.
Allen returned a Walker interception for a 43-yard touchdown to go ahead 12-10 with 9:04 on the clock.
Savannah State retook the lead following a 75-yard touchdown run by Hampton with 8:54 left in the first half and a 39-yard field goal by Tran with 3:43 left extended the Tigers lead to 20-12.
Late in the second quarter,
Desmond Callier intercepted a pass for Savannah State.
There was no scoring in the third quarter but SSU drove to the Allen 28 and Tran attempted a 45-yard field goal but it was no good.
Ahlik Booker intercepted a pass in the fourth quarter but SSU could not convert it into points.
The Yellow Jackets scored a touchdown and got the two-point conversion with three minutes left in the game to tie the score at 20.
SSU finished the game with 365 yards with 207 coming through the air while the defense held Allen to 283 yards.
Walker completed 11 of 26 passes for 192 yards while Hampton had 11 carries for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Clark caught three passes for 82 yards.
Bell finished the game with 23 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 fumble recovery.
Xavier Esquillen added four tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Emari Napper, John "Wesley" Bentley and
Trevor Strowbridge all had four tackles while Shellman, Booker and Callier all had one interception.
The Tigers (3-3, 2-2 SIAC) will wrap up their three game road swing with a trip to Augusta, Georgia to play rival Fort Valley State in the Good Trouble Heritage Football Classic on October 18.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with headquarters 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 seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit www.thesiac.com.