ALBANY, Ga. – The Benedict College Tigers took a big step on the path to a repeat appearance in the SIAC championship game with a 29-8 victory over the Albany State Golden Rams on Saturday at the ASU Coliseum. The Tigers, now 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the SIAC, put together a dominate defensive perf ormance, holding the Golden Rams to an opponent’s season-low 152 yards of total offense while recording four sacks, recovering one fumble, intercepting two passes, and scoring a defensive touchdown. David Smith rushed for 113 of Benedict’s 177 yards on the ground, and Zane Spires kicked three long field goals, including setting a school record with a 54-yard field goal, the fourth-longest in Division II this season. Benedict remains in a four-way tie for first place in the tight SIAC race. In other key SIAC games on Saturday, Kentucky State (6-1 SIAC) scored a late touchdown to take a 27-24 victory over Savannah State, Benedict’s opponent next week. Edward Waters (5-1) rebounded from their loss to Benedict last week to take a 62-14 victory over Clark Atlanta. Central State (5-1) also won big over Miles, 48-20. Against the Golden Rams, the Tigers had a 20-0 lead at the half, and increased their lead to 23-0 in the third quarter, and were never threatened by the Golden Rams, the defending conference champions who fell to 3-5 overall and 3-3 in the SIAC. After a scoreless first quarter, the Tigers opened the second quarter with a 53-yard field goal by Spires, which was a short-lived school record. Later in the second quarter, Savion Terry sacked ASU backup quarterback Vison Berry, who fumbled. JaHaven Phillips scooped up the loose ball and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to put the Tigers up 10-0. After a Golden Ram punt, Benedict started a drive at the 50-yard line. Smith needed just one play to race to the end zone to give Benedict a 17-0 lead with 7:27 left in the first half. On the final play of the first half, Spires came in to attempt a school-record 54-yard field goal, and put it through the uprights to give the Tigers a 20-0 lead at the break. Spires added a 48-yard field goal in the third quarter to make it 23-0. After the Golden Rams intercepted a Jett Peddy pass early in the fourth quarter, they drove 77 yards on 11 plays and scored on a one-yard run to avoid the shutout and make it 23-6. Benedict drove the length of the field on the next series, but the Tigers were stopped short on fourth down from the 1-yard line. Albany State then turned it over on downs, when Terry stopped a fourth-and-short run at the ASU 9-yard line. That gave the Tigers another chance, and A’chean Durant scored on a 10-yard run on the next play to make it 29-6. The Golden Rams added a safety when the Tigers mishandled a punt and pushed it out of the back of the end zone for the final score. Kahmari Cook had a team-high nine total tackles, including two tackles for loss. Ty’Metrius Patterson had a big day defensively for the Tigers, recording seven tackles, two sacks for -14 yards, and one quarterback hurry. David Makonzo recorded five tackles, had one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, and blocked one punt. Etinosa Igiebor and Lamont Shamburger both had interceptions. Benedict returns home to take on the Savannah State Tigers next Saturday at 2 p.m. Categories: Local Sports, Sports ...read more read less