By Donald Hunt
For The Birmingham Times
Miles College will try to pick up a victory when it opens regular season play in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) on Saturday. Miles (0-2) will face Fort Valley State (0-2) in the Prince Hall Americanism Classic at Sloan-Alumni Stadium. The kickoff will be at 5 p.m.
Miles suffered a tough 37-21 loss to West Alabama last week. The Golden Bears’ quarterback Daniel Smith completed 24-of-43 passes for 278 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Smith connected with his top wide receivers Leonard Tyree and LeAnthony Robinson who both had terrific games. Tyree had eight catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Robinson finished with eight receptions for 74 yards.
The Golden Bears got a big play from defensive lineman Jaylun Thomas who had a 96-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown.
Tuskegee University (1-1) was able to get its first win of the season with a 20-0 victory over Albany State (0-2) in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play. The Golden Tigers won the fifth annual White Water Classic by shutting out the Golden Rams.
Tuskegee defensive back Rorrick Steward was named Most Valuable Player of the classic. In addition, he was selected as the SIAC Defensive Player of the Week. Steward had two interceptions and one was returned for 35 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Tuskegee will go back on the road to play Clark Atlanta (0-2) on Saturday, September 15. The kickoff will be at 6 p.m.
SWAC
Alabama State University didn’t have many bright spots losing to seventh-ranked Auburn 63-9 last week on the road with the exception of defensive tackle Ricky Haley who was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Defensive Player of the Week.
Haley got the Hornets a score when he tackled back-up quarterback Malik Willis for a safety. Haley also had four total tackles and a tackle for loss.
On Saturday, Alabama State (1-1) will visit Kennesaw State (1-1) ranked seventh among Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams in a non-conference game. The kickoff is set for 5 p.m.
Alabama Agriculture & Mechanical (1-1) dropped a 25-20 decision to North Alabama last week. Quarterback Aqeel Glass was able to effectively move the offense for AAMU. Glass completed 24-of-40 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.
The Bulldogs ground attack was led by running backs Trevon Walters and Jordan Bentley who rushed for 64 and 61 yards respectively. AAMU will need a strong performance on both sides of the ball on Saturday against the host University of Cincinnati (2-0) in a non-conference FBS matchup. The kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
