Inside Hotlanta and the SIAC

By Hal Lamar

Conference Crown On The Line This Weekend in Albany, Georgia

Who will walk away with the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's 9th football crown this weekend? Will defending champ Miles College put the hardware back on their bus for the return trip to Alabama as happy as a felock.

Ruffin

Gardina

One thing is fairly certain. Unless the game goes into hopeless overtme and winds up in the record books as a tie, the outcome will likely be determined after kickoff at 2pm Saturday, November 16 at Albany State Coliseum when the Ram elevens under third year head coach Gabe Giardina face the Bears under Reggie Ruffin, now 8 years as HFC and as of June 8 of last year, is beginning his second term as the school's athletic director.

This will be the second meeting between Ruffin and Giardina on the gridiron. Miles met the Rams in SIAC Championship 8 and defeated ASU 50-23. Notwithstanding Miles' offensive dominance in that game, the Bears also enjoyed home field advantage.

This time the "home shoe" is on the foot (or hoof) of the Rams.

Both teams ended their regular season in Classic fashion. 37,000 were in Columbus for the Fountain City Classic between ASU and Fort Valley while Tuskegee's "Death Valley" stadium attracted 23,001 to its homecoming and regular season "do" with Miles. Those figures bode well for this 9th conference tilt to approach the sellout phase.

Both ASU and Miles are coming off wins from last weekend. The Rams. which finished the regular season with a 7-3 overall and 5-1 conference mark, pounced Fort Valley 42-6. The Rams exploded in the second half with 28 unanswered points in the third quarter and seven more in the fourth.

In Tuskegee , Miles also held the Golden Tigers of Tuskegee to six points while collecting 20 for themselves. One of those scores came from N'Klacvious Floyd on a 92 yard interception return......

ELSEWHERE IN THE SIAC: Kentucky State held on to the lead after its 14-0 halftime surge to defeat the Marauders of Central State 34-28. CSO stiffened defensively in the second half while climbing to within seven points of the Thorobred lead with 3:05 remaining. But KSU also held on tightly to the oval in the remaining moments to finish 2019 at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play. The Marauders finished their regular season 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the SIAC....

Morehouse is the Atlanta University center champ by hanging on to defeat Clark-AU 40-39. CAU, which finished 2009 winless under their new head coach Tim Bowens,was never-say-die nonetheless, trading the lead several times and moving to within one point of the Morehouse lead. But Morehouse had three third down conversions in the last quarter of play and the clock as a 12th player to hang on for the victory. Again despite the loss, CAU's junior quarterback Charles Stafford passed for 325 yards and five touchdowns but was intercepted twice......

Savannah State finished its first full season in the SIAC with a perfect 5-0 conference and division mark and a 7-3 overall thanks to last weekend's 49-19 win over Florida's Edward Waters College. Although their record is one of the best in the conference, past NCAA infractions make them ineligible for post-season play..for this season.....

Lane ended its' 2019 season a 30-23 winner over Benedict. The Dragons finished out 4-6 overall and 2-4 in conferance. Benedict appeared on the verge of a rebound, actually outscoring the Dragons 13-7 in the second half. Benedict had control of the oval with 5:39 remaining in the game but their offense sputtered and stiff Lane resistance allowed the Dragons to hang on to their seven point lead........

XTRA POINTS: Mothballs are being swept off the Orange Blossom classic to be revamped between a current member of the SIAC and a former conference powerhhouse. It's been announced that the game which dates back to 1933, will resume September 6, 2020 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida with Florida A&M taking on Albany State. In 41 years,the OBC was treated in much the same fashion as the so-called major bowl games....lots of hype and advertising in mostly black newspapers all over the country. The OBC has been dormant since last played under its name. In the 1978 classic, FAMU toppled Grambling 31-7. The first game in 1933 attracted 2000 fans to the Florida sun. FAMU defeated Howard University 9-0.
The last OBC drew 35,499. FAMU defeated Grambling 41-7.

PREDICTIONS
Albany State vs. Miles-2pm-Albany Coliseum
Miles will win it in OT by 7

Got an item? Contact Hal -> hallamar at comcast.net