FAIRFIELD, AL – The Albany State Golden Rams used a balanced attack to upset the defending SIAC football champion Miles Bears 31-3 Saturday at Sloan Alumni Stadium. Kam Ward grinded out 112 yards on 13 carries to lead the ASU offense that used all of its weapons to thwart Miles.
Coach Gabe Giardina was proud of his team’s performance. “I am really proud of how our team competed in the game. It was our most physical performance as an entire team to date,” he said.
The statistics underscore Giardina’s interpretation. The Golden Rams (4-1, 2-0 SIAC) played an unusually controlled brand of football against the Golden Bears (2-3, 1-1 SIAC), running 38 times while passing just 18 times. Dionte Bonneau passed for 89 yards, including a 38-yard bomb to Rashad Jordan. Bonneau would complete passes to five different Golden Rams.
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Marcuis Fulks would grind out 65 tough yards on 17 carries. Bonneau would chip in 36 yards.
Defensively, Stephan Pierre continues to dominate. He had 2 tackles in the game with 11 of them being solos. He also managed one tackle for a loss. In a total team effort, 20 Golden Rams got tackles in the game.
Coemba Jones and Josh Hill gathered five tackles each. Antonio Leroy, Malik Barnes, Anthony Harvey and J’Shawn Baker all collected four tackles in the game.
Gabriel Ballinas continued his excellence as a specialist. Ballinas connected on field goals of 49 and 31 yards. He also averaged 44.8 yards-per-punt. He nailed Miles’ backs to the endzone with two kicks inside the 20-yard line, while booming two punts over 50 yards.
“It was a true team win with all three phases playing well,” Giardina concluded.
The Rams return home on Oct. 9 to take on Edward Waters for Homecoming at 2:00 PM.
Courtesy: Albany State Athletics
