Tuskegee rallies to upend Albany State

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Javoris Wilburn crouched down on the sidelines. His facial expression summed up the final minute of the SIAC Championship Game late Saturday night at the Cramton Bowl.

At exactly the 48-yard line, Victor Moli sat near the center of the field, his frustration painfully obvious.

With just under a minute after Albany State had grabbed a three-point lead, Tuskegee marched down the field and scored with 38 seconds left, stealing what appeared to be a sure-victory.

In the highest-scoring SIAC Championship, Tuskegee outslugged Albany State for the second time this season, dethroning the defending conference champions with a 47-41 victory.

“It hurts,” Albany State quarterback Frank Rivers said. “Everybody gave it all they had. We can’t question anybody’s fight tonight. It hurts, that’s all it is. If you love the game the way my teammates and coaches do, it hurts.”

Rivers had tossed what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown pass with 1:46 left, hitting Quadrey Simmons on a 10-yard slant pass to give the Rams a 41-38 lead.

But Tuskegee marched down the field, using 11 plays to move 64 yards and scored the game-winner with 38 seconds left when Michael Thornton scored on a 3-yard plunge.

Then what little chance Albany State had of a comeback ended when the ensuing kickoff went into the end zone and the Tigers notched a safety.

Tuskegee (9-2) burned the final 32 seconds off the clock, claimed the conference title and perhaps ended Albany State’s postseason hopes in the process.

The Rams (7-3) are a longshot to make the NCAA Division II playoffs, but they will learn their fate when the pairings are announced today.

But all of that will have to wait — at least for now. The Rams won’t fully be over this one, which snapped their seven-game winning streak.

“I had said all week it had to be the team executing at the end that wins it,” ASU coach Mike White said. “And they made it and we didn’t. My hats off to them.

“Defensively, we gave up a lot of big plays. Offensively, I thought we left a lot of points out there, especially in the first half. And this is a heartbreaker to lose, but what a great game.”

Albany State hit Tuskegee on the opening kick, using a 98-yard kickoff return from Adrian Alexander to grab a 7-0 lead at the 14:46 mark.

But the Tigers roared right back, scoring three straight touchdowns on a trio of big plays to grab a 21-7 advantage with 4:43 left in the opening quarter.

The Rams did grab some momentum heading in the half when Rivers hit Simmons on a 14-yard touchdown pass to trail 21-14.

White said the players talked at halftime about playing better and they wasted little time continuing their momentum at the start of the third quarter. Tavarius Washington recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score early, then Jarvis Small gave ASU the lead at 27-21 on a 2-yard burst with 9:31 left in the third.

Then the teams traded leads until Rivers appeared to have given the Rams the lead for good when he connected with Simmons for a 41-38 advantage. He said he never doubted the defense wouldn’t hold.

And Washington, the defensive leader, said Albany State was up for the challenge.

“There wasn’t a question in my mind that we were going to stop them,” Washington said. “It just didn’t happen.”

White and the Rams said this one will be tough to swallow.

“Right now I’m just worried about my guys,” White said. “I have a lot of guys right now that are really hurting. We’ll see what happens.

“Right now, we’re just focusing on each other. We consider ourselves a family. We’re hurting right, we had a great season. As a family, it’s time to just get back together.”