Sports

Rams creating room to run

• Albany State's running game is succeeding with plenty of help from the big boys on the offensive team.

Scott Chancey

ALBANY — Four-time defending conference champion Albany State is tied with Tuskegee for first place in the SIAC and leads with an average of 230 rushing yards per game. Three Rams are among the conference’s top 10 rushers, but quarterback Kisan Flakes gives credit where he feels it’s long overdue.

Meet the offensive line, which helped the Rams rush for 234 yards during a 17-14 win against Clark Atlanta on Saturday. To illustrate how important the rushing game has been, it has accounted for 14 of Albany State’s 16 touchdowns.

“It always starts with the people with the least amount of credit,” Flakes said. “They’re not the ones always talked about or written about in the papers; but without the offensive line, nothing would go well on offense.”

What makes this group of linemen stand out is not only its size, averaging 318 pounds per player, but the different schools they transferred from to join the Rams.

Doug Smith transferred from Grambling State, Darrell Howard transferred from Middle Tennessee State and the other two transfers are Montrell Neal (Southeast Louisiana) and Marcus Pressley (Edward Waters College). The only offensive starter who has been at Albany State longer is Chris Chapman, a senior who actually transferred from Hinds Community College.

“These guys, we’ve all come together fast,” Chapman said. “We’ve really just worked together and communicated with each other. That’s how it goes.”

Smith has seen firsthand how his unit improved.

“Everybody tries to stay on the same page,” he said. “It’s been a big turnaround from a couple of weeks ago. Now, it seems we have more chemistry and everybody is on the same page.”

And of course, don’t forget about tight end Larry Johnson and fullback LiRonnie Davis. This combination may seem diverse, but it has led to Albany State’s continued success in the rushing game. As long as the Rams keep succeeding, coach Mike White doesn’t seem to mind.

“They’re just a little bit better,” White said. “Last year, we weren’t as aggressive coming off the ball. Last year, we kind of let the defense charge too much. It was like we were in a draw play every time. This year, we seem to be coming off the ball, trying to come over there and get after them a little bit.”

Davis, coincidentally, leads the Rams’ rushing attack with 434 yards through seven games. The Rams have several other rushing options with Flakes and running backs Gary Neavins, Brian Porter and Demetrice Johnson. Porter (287 yards in six games) and Johnson (334 in seven) rank eighth and ninth in the conference, respectively.

“As long as they take care of things up front, we know we can take care of things in the back,” Neavins said. “That’s why they block so hard.”

Although Albany State’s offensive line players needed some time to jell, the results have been positive, but not exactly where offensive line coach Keith DeGrate would like them to be.

“With a bunch of new guys, they still have yet to really talk to each other on the offensive line,” DeGrate said. “They’re getting a little bit better, and that’s what we’re trying to stress in practice. If you see someone doing something different, talk after it. We don’t care that they know where we’re going, just as long as we get there. We feel we can out-power them when we get there.”

DeGrate and the rest of the Rams’ staff have been instrumental in the Rams’ progress.

“The coaches are doing their job right now with our footwork,” Chapman said. “We’ve improved greatly with our footwork and pass protection. (DeGrate) works with us every day on footwork. Footwork is the key to us helping them win games.”

Larry Johnson (6-foot-3, 240 pounds), who also leads Albany State with eight catches for 115 yards, has yet to score a touchdown but has blocking has made others possible.

“I feel good when I see LiRonnie or (Demetrice Johnson) break off a long run because that means we did our job up front,” Larry Johnson said. “We blocked our man and took care of business.”

On Saturday, however, the Rams’ offensive line will face its biggest challenge — a Tuskegee team that tied Albany State for the conference title last year. The Tigers are the SIAC’s leaders in total defense.

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