There was nothing wrong with Livingstone’s heart on its homecoming Saturday, but
matters of the heart had very little to do with the outcome of this one. Instead, visiting Albany State’s 34-13
thumping of the Blue Bears on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium was a
tussle that simply came down to muscle.
And in the muscle department the
Bears were a bunch of 98-pound weaklings compared to the bulging biceped Golden Rams.
“Reality hit us today,”
said Livingstone coach Greg Richardson, after his struggling squad fell to 3-7 with the
nonconference loss. “They were better upfront. Bigger than we were and more physical
than we were. And that’s the name of the game.”
In simple terms, the Golden Rams
(6-3) of the SIAC could run and Livingstone, which lives or dies by its option attack,
couldn’t.
Albany linemen Avo Atwaters and
Tokunboh Adeshile and linebacker Averil Cobbs led the Rams’ SIAC-leading defense,
which train-wrecked a Blue Bear ground game which entered the contest averaging 219 yards
per game. Livingstone wound up with a meager 26 net yards and normally-elusive quarterback
D’Andre Hopper lost 17 yards in five carries.
“Our No. 1 plan was to stop
the Livingstone option,” said Waters. “Stop the run. Make them throw. We
prepared hard like we do every week, and I’d say everything we did worked.”
“They had so many guys coming
through all day just completely unblocked,” said the Bears’ star Carlton Jones,
who was held to 42 yards. “I mean, their nose man was tackling me on sweeps. That
shouldn’t happen.”
Meanwhile, the Golden Ram linemen
opened up holes that could have accommodated school buses.
Robert Cummings, the SIAC’s
No. 2 rusher, took full advantage for 159 yards on 20 carries, while bowling ball running
mate, Kawaske Teemer, bounced off would-be Bear tacklers for 121.
In 56 rushing attempts, Albany was
stopped for a losses on only two occasions.
And the Bears — even feared
CIAA sack leader Ronnie Washburn — couldn’t beat the Albany offensive
line’s pass protection all day. That meant a blank check for QBs Warin Major, who
began the destruction of the Bears and Jamal Robinson, who finished off the kill.
But it was the Bears, who struck
first when the speedy Jones gathered in a punt less than two minutes into the game. He
bolted down the near sideline, pirouetted around the punter and went untouched for an
85-yard lightning strike and a quick 7-0 Bear lead.
“I think that play was the
wakeup call for us,” said Cummings. “We came out a little flat but that return
told everyone that we were going to have to play against this team.”
Minutes later, Albany got a break
when the Bears misjudged a punt that was downed at the Livingstone 2. That led to the Rams
getting on the board when Livingstone punter David Terry stepped out of the end zone as he
fielded a bad snap.
Albany then went on top 9-7,
driving 83 yards in 13 plays with Major flawlessly directing the team’s veer attack.
Teemer got the TD from the 7 when he caromed off Bear linebacker Terry Galloway on the
final play of the first quarter.
Livingstone had to stop the Rams
at the goal line minutes later just to stay in the hunt. Marcus Little led a Bear charge
that denied the Rams on fourth-and-goal, but again Livingstone was pinned deep.
And again, the result was a
safety. This time, Terry’s punt went directly into the massive chest of the onrushing
Adeshile, who not only put his team up 11-7, but showed off considerable dancing skills to
celebrate his success.
A late first-half field goal by
Jeff Watson, the first of his three on the day, made it 14-7 at intermission.
“We felt fortunate,”
said Richardson. “We still had confidence that we were right in the game.”
But eight minutes into the second
half, the 5-6, 218-pound Teemer busted a 56-yard scoring romp, pin-balling off one Bear
defender after another, then cutting back to go the distance for a 21-7 lead.
“He does that kind of thing a
lot,” said Cummings. “He takes all the pressure off me.”
Still, Livingstone wasn’t
done — putting the pressure back on the Rams with a 25-yard scoring toss from Hopper
to Mytrell Foreman. But Albany corner Arthur Anderson foiled a try for a 2-point
conversion to keep the score at 21-13 as the third quarter ended.
In the opening seconds of the
fourth came the play that Richardson called the backbreaker.
Cummings and Teemer had been
running so effectively that the Bear DBs were starting to cheat in, and on a first-and-10
play they were caught flatfooted on a play-action fake by Robinson.
Suddenly Ram receiver Jason Ivey
was standing in the end zone all alone, waving his arms like he was trying to flag down a
cab. Robinson lofted the ball to him from 27 yards away and Albany had the TD and the
28-13 lead that sealed the Bears’ fate.
“We were sure it was going to
be a run. We were sure,” said Livingstone senior linebacker Marcus Bankhead, who
played his heart out with 18 tackles in his final appearance at Alumni.
But it wasn’t, and that was
the ballgame.
“Once they got us down two
TDs, we had to give up our game plan,” said Richardson. “That play got some of
our young kids down. They don’t know yet how to handle it when adversity comes. On
the other hand, Albany is a team with great tradition. They’re always in the
playoffs. They know how to handle the negative things.”
While the Rams rode merrily away,
the Bears were left with nothing but more sad memories in a season long gone sour.
“The disappointment of today
is so bad I don’t know what to say,” offered Bankhead. “I know I left my
heart out there. There’s nothing to do now but to leave my heart out there one last
time next Saturday.” |
Today's News