ASU falls to Rattlers
TALLAHASSEE - Alabama State allowed 16 unanswered points as they fell to Florida A&M Saturday, 30-20, in the season opener for both schools at Bragg Field.
Special teams played a major role in setting up 14 of the 16 points as the Rattlers returned a kickoff 99 yards and had a blocked punt that set up a five-yard drive. Those miscues ultimately decided the game as the Hornets dominated the stats.
ASU outgained its counterpart 378 to 201, holding the powerful FAMU rushing attack to 77 yards on 35 carries.
The Hornets knotted the score at 14, thanks to freshman Nicholas Andrews’ (Maplesville, FL/Maplesville) eight-yard reception from redshirt sophomore Anthony Speight (Birmingham, AL/Alabama-Birmingham) with three minutes left in the second quarter.
But, the momentum swung quickly back to the Rattlers with the 99-yard kickoff return. ASU put a drive together, but an interception halted the attempted answer.
The quarterback situation for the Hornets seemed to be settled as Reid Herchenbach (Merced, CA/Merced College) played the entire second half.
After FAMU scored on its first possession of the game, Alabama State retaliated with a seven-play, 78-yard drive that was culminated with a 30-yard pass from Herchenback to redshirt senior Marcus McCall (Memphis, TN/Whitehaven).
Herchenbach finished the game with 214 yards on 22-of-34 passing and two touchdowns. Speight had 39 yards on 7-of-10 passing one touchdown and one interception.
Redshirt junior Rahmond Traylor (Memphis, TN/Germantown) led the ground attack with 78 yards on 10 carries. Redshirt sophomore Darius Mathis (Conyers, GA/Salem) recorded 65 yards on six catches, while McCall contributed 64 yards on five carries. Alabama State (0-1) will travel to Daytona Beach for a non-conference match-up with Bethune-Cookman 3 p.m. September 7.
The original story was published here: http://bamastatesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/083008aaa.html
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