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run at cau
21
Winner Albany St. (GA) ASU 4-5 , 4-3
17
Clark Atlanta CAU 2-7 , 2-5
Winner
Albany St. (GA) ASU
4-5 , 4-3
21
Final
17
Clark Atlanta CAU
2-7 , 2-5
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ASU Albany St. (GA) 7 7 0 7 21
CAU Clark Atlanta 10 0 0 7 17

Game Recap: Football | | Chris Myers

Loyd Late Catches and Opportunistic Rams Overtake Panthers

ATLANTA, Ga. – Sometimes you need a special day from an unlikely source and Saturday on the Panther Stadium red turf was one of those. Cameran Loyd made his presence felt with three acrobatic catches including a one-handed game-winning touchdown catch along with opportunistic Albany State special teams and a trio of interceptions in a 21-17 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football victory over Clark Atlanta.
 
After the home Panthers retook the lead first the first time since midway through the second quarter, Loyd and the Golden Rams would not be denied on this day. The sophomore wide out from Atlanta tip-toed the right sideline for 24 yards on the third play of the ensuing drive and equaled the yardage three plays later on a diving catch at the home 9-yard line. Following a rush, Loyd used only his right arm to pull in Jeffery Davis' 12-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone with 26.8 seconds showing on the clock.

 
Golden Rams Big Plays
by Addison "on the spot" Browder 
Cam Loyd Game-Winning TD catch
Cam Loyd 1st TD Catch for the ASU lead
Watts Interception & 70-yard return
Keymon Jefferson blocked punt & TD recovery
CAU returned the ensuing kick-off 35 yards to the ASU 47-yard line. After an incompletion, the Panthers deep pass over the middle was snatched out of the air by Golden Ram defender Jayshaun Wanton to seal the victory.

"I am really proud of our team in all three phases of the game," said ASU Head Coach David Bowser with a smile after the battle. "Special teams got this thing started again and that was awesome. Defense came out and did some things with forcing turnovers and then the offense was able to drive the ball down at the end of the game and close it out."
 
With the win, ASU (4-5/3-3 SIAC) increased its mastery over CAU (2-6/2-4 SIAC) with the sixth win in a row of the series and third-straight in Atlanta. The Golden Rams also snapped its two-game losing streak.
 
Clark Atlanta came out fast with a 75-yard scoring drive on its opening possession and a 42-yard field goal on the next drive for a 10-0 only 6:34 into the day.
 
Following a Jonathan Rodriguez 53-yard punt pinning CAU at its own 15-yard line, the ASU defense held there before Keymon Jefferson broke through the line, blocked the home punt and recovered it in the end zone for his team's first points at 3:30 in the first quarter.
 
Cameron Watts did his part to turn back Clark Atlanta again starting the second frame when he picked off the pass in his own end zone and returned it 70 yards to the home 30-yard line. Only four plays later, Loyd pulled in his first collegiate touchdown and gave the Golden Rams their first lead, 14-10, when he dove and rolled to keep the ball off the ground in the right front corner of the end zone at 7:24 in the second quarter.
 
With only three catches for 11 yards coming in over the first seven games, Loyd tripled the receptions and had 97 more yards than his season total heading into the day. The second-year Ram receiver had 9 grabs for 108 yards with 60 coming on the game-winning drive, and two touchdowns. He also ran a jet sweep for four yards.
 
"Cam Loyd has been an outstanding player all year, but he has been dealing with some nagging injuries," explained Bowser. "Cam and JD (Jeffery Davis) have a great relationship and confidence with each other and showed it today when making those big plays. He has great feet and great height. They (the opponents) look at his size and underestimate the type of player he is."
 
After leaving in the first offensive series due to a hard hit a week ago, Davis came back and was strong with 178 yards on 16 of 21 passes with the two scoring strikes to Loyd after seeing his first throw of the day picked off. He also ran for 23 yards on 10 carries.
 
Roderick McCrary led the ground game with 33 yards on nine carries and caught a 27-yard pass. Zhay'Lyn Bell covered 22 yards on six scrambles. Exavior Sherrod and Cardrece Mobley each had a reception for 16 and 12 yards.
 
Defensively, Elijah Watson had a season-high 8 tackles. Jimmy Dawson and Chancie Brown both had six stops and one for a loss with Brown in on one sack. Rontavion Scott, Avery Hall and Derrick Drayton each added six tackles. Caleb Anderson had part of a sack to go with three tackles.
 
Along with his 70-yard interception return, Watts had three tackles and a key 29-yard punt return, which set up a drive ASU attempted a field goal and two kick returns for 37 yards. Wanton and also Evan Wynn, who stopped the first CAU drive of the second half, also picked off passes.
 
Punter Rodriguez averaged 44.2 yards per punt on four boots with two inside the 20 and a 53-yard long.
 
Despite an even time of possession, the Panthers outgained the Rams, 322 to 251, but the home team did have 23 more offensive snaps. ASU did win the turnover battled, 3-1, along with the blocked punt.
 
ASU moves on to the annual heated rivalry for the season finale next Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7. The Golden Rams will face the Wildcats of Fort Valley State for the 89th time in the 36th version of the Fountain City Classic. The contest will have a 2 p.m. kick-off in Columbus, Ga.'s A.J. McClung Stadium.
 
"I want them (our players) to realize this is your rival. We need to focus on our team, though, and clean up things from this game, which is always better after a win. I am excited to see our next steps," finished the ASU director.
 
 
 
 
 
-GoldenRams-
 
 
 
 
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