MONTGOMERY, Ala.- Jarvis Small rushed 22 times for 105 yards, but the Albany State Golden Rams could not win their 16th SIAC championship. ASU's offense struggled to score for most of the night, and the team dropped a 20-7 decision to the Miles College Golden Bears in the 2015 SIAC Championship game. With the loss, ASU falls to 6-4 overall and will likely miss the NCAA playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.
Miles, who lost to the Golden Rams 29-16 during the regular season, improves to 7-4 overall.
Miles opened the scoring with less than two minutes off the game clock. Christian Mays returned the kickoff 90 yards to the Albany State 3-yard line to set up the first drive. The Golden Bears could not score a touchdown against ASU's goal line defense, and had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Nick Christiansen.
Miles was able to increase its lead to 10-0 when running back Jamarcus Nance scored on a 2-yard run with 2:20 left to play in the first quarter. Nance added another 2-yard touchdown at the 3:46 mark of the second stanza to help the Golden Bears build a 17-0 advantage at halftime.
The Golden Rams finally scored their first touchdown with 2:41 left in the third quarter. Caleb Edmonds found Thomas Smith for a 14-yard score to end a 9-play, 80-yard drive that used 2:47.
That was a close as Albany State could get. Miles scored a 30-yard field goal with 7:43 left in the fourth to close out the scoring.
Edmonds finished the night 21-for-42 passing and 218 yards. Smith caught six of those passes for 72 yards.
