State college notebook

By Andy Johnston

For the AJC

Albany State (6-0, 5-0 SIAC)

Next game: at Clark Atlanta (3-3, 2-3), 2 p.m. Saturday

RB/WR Demetrice Johnson (Thomson), who is fourth in Division II in scoring, is the SIAC offensive player of the week after rushing for 240 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 31-7 victory over Miles. He also caught two passes for 27 yards. … Albany State, which leads the nation in pass efficiency defense, total defense, scoring defense, turnover margin, sacks and tackles for loss, remained 10th in this week’s Division II poll.

Clark Atlanta (3-3, 2-3 SIAC)

Next game: vs. Albany State (6-0, 5-0), 2 p.m. Saturday

What a debut for interim coach Keith Higdon: unbeaten Albany State. Clark, which has lost three consecutive games, is calling for a “Black Out” for Saturday, the first game since Higdon was promoted to replace Ted Bahhur, who was fired on Oct. 6. … RB Winston Thompson, who rushed for 1,134 yards last year, is fifth in Division II rushing at 138.4 yards a game. He has 692 yards this season.

Fort Valley State (5-2, 4-2 SIAC)

Next game: at Southern (3-2), 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Fort Valley State has won four straight and moved to third in the SIAC, behind Albany State and Tuskegee. … The Wildcats are the homecoming opponent for Southern, a Division I-AA program that competes in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Southern lost to Division II N.C. Central in 2006. … QB Nathaniel Samas (Americus-Sumter) had 304 yards of total offense in Saturday’s 32-13 win over Stillman.

Georgia Southern (3-3, 1-2 Southern)

Next game: vs. Chattanooga (4-1, 2-1), 6 p.m. Saturday

Georgia Southern’s four first-half turnovers contributed to the Eagles falling into a 42-7 halftime hole at North Carolina on Saturday. Georgia Southern finished with four interceptions and two fumbles. … RB Adam Urbano (Calhoun) had a career-long 45-yard TD run and set a career-high with 93 yards on 17 carries. … Chattanooga was 1-11 last year and finished 2008 on a 10-game losing streak.

Morehouse (4-2, 3-2 SIAC)

Next game: at Lane (0-6, 0-5), 2 p.m. Saturday

Ian Mullen is fifth in the nation in punting (41.1) and tied for sixth in field goals. Mullen, who is 10 of 13 on field-goal attempts this season and has scored 48 points, leads the SIAC in punting and field goals. … Jamar Rodriguez, who caught three TD passes on Oct. 3, was held to one catch for 19 yards in Saturday’s loss to Tuskegee.

Savannah State (1-4)

Next game:vs. Bethune-Cookman (1-4), 5 p.m. Saturday

Former NFL star and current CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe will have his No. 2 jersey retired Saturday in Tiger Arena and he’ll be presented with his jersey in a ceremony prior to the game against Bethune-Cookman. … Senior WR Deleon Hollinger, who hadn’t returned punts until this year, is averaging 19.2 yards on six returns, fifth in the FCS.

Valdosta State (3-3, 3-2 Gulf South)

Next game: at Harding (4-3, 2-2), 7 p.m. Saturday

QB Kellen Lewis is the Gulf South offensive player of the week after going 22 of 34 for 312 yards and rushing for 112 yards on 18 carries in the Blazers’ 33-20 victory over Henderson State. He passed for two TDs and rushed for two TDs, accounting for 426 of VSU’s 530 yards of offense. … The Blazers held Henderson State, which entered as the conference’s No. 1 rushing team (212 yards), to 78 yards on the ground.

West Georgia (0-6, 0-4 Gulf South)

Next game: at Arkansas Tech (2-4, 1-2), 3 p.m. Saturday

Arkansas-Monticello defeated West Georgia 34-3 last Thursday but coach Daryl Dickey was particularly proud of a fourth-quarter goal-line stand where the Wolves kept the Boll Weevils out of the end zone on three plays from the 1. … West Georgia, which is last in Division II in turnover margin at minus-14, has lost 20 straight games, dating to 2007.

Other state schools

* Shorter (3-3, 1-1) has lost two in a row heading into Saturday’s game against Kentucky Christian (0-6), a program in its second year. The Hawks have fallen out of the NAIA rankings after being 10th two weeks ago. Jordan Hazard (Sprayberry) and A.J. Cooley (Bowdon) each returned kickoffs for TDs in Saturday’s loss to Lambuth.

* LaGrange (3-3) had a school-record 534 yards of offense in a 48-6 victory over MacMurray. QB Drew Carter (Northwest Whitfield), who missed the previous week with an injury, tied his school record with four TD passes and DL Alex Sapp (North Forsyth) had three sacks. The Panthers have won two straight heading into Saturday’s game at Eureka (Ill.), which has lost three straight.

* Georgia Military (3-3) had four turnovers and South Alabama returned an interception and a fumble for TDs in its 34-3 victory. GMC, which was No. 14 last week and fell out of the rankings in this week’s NJCAA poll, will host the Valdosta State junior varsity at 6 p.m. Thursday.

-- Andy Johnston