Wildcats Drench Golden Rams in Fountain City Classic
By: FVSU Office of Sports Information
Without question, the Wildcats of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) saved their best for last in their 35-13 win over the Golden Rams of Albany State University (ASU) in the 20th Annual Fountain City Classic in Columbus, Georgia. In front of a crowd of 23, 121 fans at McClung Memorial Stadium, the win by the Wildcats stopped the flow of successive wins by ASU in the Fountain City Classic.
For the past six seasons, ASU had won the annual rivalry and they held an overall Fountain City Classic won/loss record of 15-4 over FVSU. With this year's game billed as the “The Showdown before Sundown,” Wildcat senior, offensive center Collin Cordell used the Fountain City Classic Luncheon earlier in the week as the forum to guarantee that at the end of Saturday's dual the Wildcats would be the team left standing. Along with his teammates, Cordell and the Wildcats delivered on that guarantee!
After a scoreless first quarter, the Golden Rams got the game's first points early in the second quarter when ASU placekicker Juan Bongarra made a 46-yard field goal to give the Golden Rams a 3-0 lead. As an answer to the ASU field goal, the Wildcats mounted an 8-play, 98-yard drive that ended when quarterback Nathaniel Samas lofted a perfect, 41-yard spiral to the freshman wide receiver Terrell Walker for a touchdown. With the converted extra point by FVSU kicker Justin Rosenbaum, the Wildcats took their first lead of the game, 7-3.
The ebb and flow of the Fountain City Classic continued with 1:15 remaining in the first half when ASU reclaimed the lead after quarterback A.J. McKenna tossed a 41-yard touchdown pass to Octavius Staton. Bongarra's extra point made it a 10-7 lead for ASU.
However, the scoring spigot at this year's Fountain City Classic was not quite shut off for the first half. After an exciting kick return by FVSU's Brandon Anderson gave the Wildcats outstanding field position at the 50-yard line, it took the Wildcat offense only 46 seconds and three plays to wrestle the lead back from ASU. A one-yard touchdown run by Samas and the Rosenbaum extra point sent FVSU into the halftime with a 14-10 advantage.
After the intermission, the score remained that way until late in the third quarter. After an ASU turnover, FVSU took over at the Golden Ram seven yard line. With 1:11 remaining in the quarter, it took Samas only one play to find tight end Rodriquez Render in the end zone for the touchdown pass. The touchdown and converted extra point increased the Wildcat lead to 21-10.
Much to the surprise of the capacity crowd, the FVSU scoring valve was opened even wider at the Fountain City Classic with one minute remaining in the third quarter. An ASU fumble on their own 20 yard line was scooped up by FVSU, senior linebacker Trent Newton and returned the distance for a Wildcat touchdown. With Rosenbaum's point after conversion, the Wildcats led 28-10.
At the start of the fourth quarter, ASU got another field goal from Juan Bongarra to cut the Wildcat lead to 28-13. Recognizing that time was not an ally, the Golden Rams offense was forced to take chances throwing the football for the remainder of the game if they expected to catch FVSU. That plan of attack was quickly drained by FVSU!
With 10:12 left in the game, FVSU sophomore, safety Dajuan Williams squeezed the final drop of hope out of ASU in this year's Fountain City Classic when corralled his third interception of the game. As stunned ASU fans watched, Williams returned the interception 41-yards for a FVSU touchdown. Rosenbaum's extra point was the final margin of victory for FVSU, 35-13.
The win was Wildcat's first in the last seven attempts against the Golden Rams at the Fountain City Classic. The classic series now stands at 15-5 in ASU's favor. Overall, the FVSU now leads the series against the ASU, 32-28-3.
The 20th Annual Fountain City Classic was highlighted by the play of several Wildcat players. FVSU quarterback Nathaniel Samas was named game's most valuable player for his 16 of 26 passing performance with 281 yards and two touchdowns. Samas completed passes to seven different Wildcat receivers in the game. Render, Richard Willis, An'thon Harris, and Demario Barber had multiple catches in the game.
Sophomore punter Marquette King had a sterling performance. He averaged 42.7 yards per punt during the game. Of his nine punts, he landed four inside the ASU 20-yard line. His longest of the game was 64 yards.
Defensively, in addition to Dajuan Williams' individual career best three interceptions in a single game; FVSU got gutsy efforts from several players. Linebackers Ricky Johnson and Trent Newton combined for 15 tackles (Johnson 8 and Newton 7). Johnson also recorded two tackles for loss and one sack. Newton also added one tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery (20-yard return for touchdown), two pass break ups, and one sack to his game totals. Defensive end Jason Thompson contributed seven tackles, four tackles for loss, and one fumble recovery while freshman defensive back Dominique Patterson added four pass break ups to his five tackle total.
The game was the final contest of the 2009 season for the Wildcats of FVSU who finished with a 7-4 overall record and 6-3 in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.
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