Last year's buzzer-beater adds zest to Albany State-Tuskegee matchup

Posted 9:11PM on Thursday 29th September 2005 ( 19 years ago )

ALBANY, Ga. (AP) Joshua Johnson still remembers Uyl Joyner's words in the huddle. There were two seconds remaining on the clock with Tuskegee clinging to a 29-27 lead as Tiger fans were ready to go crazy in the expected victory. But the Albany State offense had other plans from 52 yards away. ``He said he had one big pass left,'' said Johnson, a Rams wide receiver. The play was simply called Eagle, which Joyner wouldn't go into specifics to describe. However, it's safe to assume it had to do with a deep-pass play. ``We were supposed to run Eagle,'' Joyner said. ``I didn't know what that play was. Joshua was the only person deep and I hung it to him.'' The ball sailed toward the end zone as a picturesque fall afternoon neared its end at Abbott Stadium. Johnson, surrounded by a crowd of defenders, jumped up trying to catch the ball just outside the end zone. The ball went off his hands and was caught by Michael Pleas, who then stretched it over the goal line to give the Rams a 33-29 victory. It was Pleas' only reception of the game and perhaps one of the most improbable plays in the program's 60-year history. Joyner, now a student assistant coach at Albany State, threw for 325 yards and rushed 22 times for 122 yards in the win last year. ``It was like a delayed reaction for me,'' Joyner said. ``The first thing you do is look around to see if there are no flags on the field. And once I saw there were no flags on the field, I took off running.'' Rams coach Mike White did some running as well with the team. ``I remember going around crazy,'' White said, laughing. ``I remember running in front of the band. I never will forget that moment. There are so many cliche names to label the play that kept Albany State undefeated en route to its second consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. The play? The catch? The tip? No matter what people choose to call it, the name doesn't do the moment justice. ``It was one of the magical moments in the history of Albany State's football,'' White said. The desperation play might have looked like Johnson tipped the pass, but Johnson said White isn't so sure. ``He tells me it looks like I dropped a pass down there,'' Johnson said with a laugh. ``Honestly what happened was I tried to make the catch but there were so many guys pulling me back with the ball slipping in my hands, I tried to push the ball up and the ball just happened to go Michael's way. Even if I had caught it, I wasn't in the end zone.'' Although that last-second play might be what most remember from that game, Rams coaches and players take more pride in their comeback. In order for the Rams to put themselves in position to win, they had to come back from a 17-point deficit with just more than five minutes left in the game. Having three subpar quarters, Albany State rallied after surrendering 14 points in the first four minutes. ``The sideline never gave up,'' White said. ``Guys like Uyl just kept encouraging everybody. It was like we had another quarter or something, more time on the clock.'' The Rams forced two turnovers and stopped Tuskegee on fourth down and turned each ensuing possession into a touchdown. After all that, with 2:16 left, the Rams led 27-24. ``We came back and played great in that fourth quarter,'' Johnson said. ``I'm not even going to say the third quarter. We played great in the fourth quarter. That was just the heart of a champion coming out there.'' Tuskegee blocked an extra-point kick then returned it for two points, taking the lead back with eight seconds left with a field goal. The Tigers were penalized 15 yards on kickoff for excessive celebration, enabling the Rams to return the ball to the Albany State 48 to set up Joyners pass. ``The comeback, it took a lot out of me, the team,'' Joyner said. ``You see a Hail Mary play work out a lot during the course of a football season. But rarely do you see a team come back from 17 down with five minutes left.'' As the Rams and Tigers renew their rivalry on Saturday at Albany Municipal Coliseum, White hopes the game's experience will affect the players beyond their college football years. ``It was just a never-say-die attitude,'' White said. ``If you lose a game, it just digs at you. When you lose, you just wish your guys played hard and worked hard and never said die. You just hope they take that on in life.'' Information from: The Albany Herald, http://albanyherald.com (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/9/124917

Last year&#39;s buzzer-beater adds zest to Albany State-Tuskegee matchup

Last year's buzzer-beater adds zest to Albany State-Tuskegee matchup