State colleges roundup

By Andy Johnston

For the AJC

Albany State (8-1, 7-1 SIAC)

Next game: vs. Fort Valley State (6-4, 5-3) at Columbus, 2 p.m. Saturday

Albany State, which is No. 13 in this week’s Division II poll, has clinched a spot in the playoffs with one regular-season game remaining. ... QB A.J. McKenna, LB Jacob Hardwick and OL Michael Mavromichalis (Windsor Forest) were honored by the SIAC for their play in the Rams’ 30-12 victory over Morehouse on Saturday. McKenna threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns, Hardwick had nine tackles and Mavromichalis helped Albany State rack up 367 total yards.

Clark Atlanta (3-6, 2-6 SIAC)

Next game: vs. Benedict (7-3, 5-3) at Augusta, 2 p.m. Saturday

Clark takes a six-game losing streak into Saturday’s season-ending CSRA Classic, which will be played in Augusta. … Freshman Joshua Dubois (Lovejoy) had one of his finest games with field goals of 21 and 40 yards and 41-yard average on four punts in Saturday’s loss to North Greenville. One punt was downed inside the 20. … RB Winston Thompson needs 98 yards rushing to break the 1,000-yard barrier for the second straight season. … Benedict has won four in a row this season.

Fort Valley State (6-4, 5-3 SIAC)

Next game: vs. Albany State (8-1, 7-1) at Columbus, 2 p.m. Saturday

Punter Marquette King (Rutland) is the SIAC special-teams player of the week after averaging 40 yards on eight punts, with three downed inside the 20 in a win over Kentucky State. WR/KR An’thon Harris had five catches for 110 yards and scored on receptions of 10 and 71 yards in the 20-13 victory.

Georgia Southern (4-4, 3-2 Southern)

Next game: at Samford (3-5, 1-4), 3:30 p.m. Saturday

Georgia Southern, which was off Saturday, hasn’t won or lost consecutive games this season. … QB Lee Chapple (Greater Atlanta Christian) needs 15 attempts to pass Travis Clark for the school’s single-season attempts mark. Clark threw 283 passes in 2006. Chapple already has the record from most completions with 174. … Samford, which lost 28-16 to The Citadel on Saturday, has dropped three consecutive games and is 1-4 in its past five.

Morehouse (6-3, 5-3 SIAC)

Next game: vs. Miles (4-6, 3-5), 1 p.m. Saturday

The Maroon Tigers, who are No. 7 in Super Regional 2 rankings, still have a shot at the Division II playoffs, but must defeat Miles and hope teams above them lose. Six teams from each of the four regionals advance to the playoffs. ... LB Charlie Wilson had 13 tackles against Albany State. ... Morehouse is seventh in Division II in pass defense, allowing 137.2 yards a game.

Savannah State (2-6)

Next game: vs. Webber International, 5 p.m. Nov. 14

RB Justin Babb (Westlake) had one of his top games of the season by rushing for 167 yards, catching three passes for 89 yards and scoring four touchdowns in the Tigers’ 45-24 victory over Edward Waters. ... The win snapped Savannah State’s six-game losing streak. ... QB Kurvin Curry (Hart County), who started for the first time in three games, ran for 64 yards and a TD and passed for 234 yards and two touchdowns. ... The Tigers’ next two opponents -- Webber International and N.C. Central -- are a combined 4-12 heading into games Saturday.

Valdosta State (5-4, 5-3 Gulf South)

Next game: vs. Edward Waters (0-9), 2 p.m. Saturday

Freshman WR Gerald Ford (Gainesville) had his first career 100-yard receiving game with a six-catch, 123-yard performance in last week’s 31-20 victory over West Georgia. He scored on a 58-yard TD pass and leads the Blazers with four TD catches. ... QB Kellen Lewis leads the Blazers in rushing (385 yards, eight TDs) and passing (2,297, 12 TDs). ... Freshman Daniel Andersen (Pike County) has kicked the longest field goal in the Gulf South Conference this year, a 49-yarder against Southern Arkansas on Sept.12.

West Georgia (1-8, 1-6 Gulf South)

Next game: at Delta State (4-5, 3-4), 5 p.m. Saturday

RB Yusuf Holloway (Central Gwinnett) hasn’t scored a touchdown despite averaging 15 carries and three receptions a game this season. … West Georgia nearly doubled its sack total for the season with three against Valdosta State. The Wolves had four entering the game, but DE Jeremy Cook had two and DE Brandon McEachern (Buford) added another one against the Blazers. … Delta State is 1-4 in its past five games.

Other state schools

* LB Logan Lollis (Toombs County) leads Shorter (5-4, 2-2 Mid-South) and is fifth in the conference with 81 total tackles (nine a game). The Wolves play at Belhaven (Miss.) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

* LaGrange (5-4), which will play at Greenville (Ill.) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, threw six interceptions and lost a fumble in Saturday’s 51-13 loss to Huntingdon College.

* GMC (5-3), which was off last week, plays at Erie Community College (3-5) in Buffalo, N.Y., at 1 p.m. Saturday.