ALBANY, Ga. — Albany State’s historic football season came to an end in the NCAA Division II quarterfinals as the Golden Rams fell to Newberry.

With their starting quarterback Isaish Knowles sidelined with a foot injury, the Rams turned to freshman Xavier Irizarry for his first collegiate start. Irizarry completed his opening drive by connecting with Jamarion Davies on a 14-yard touchdown pass after hitting Davion Jackson near the 20-yard line on the previous play.

Early dominance gives way to momentum shift

Albany State jumped to a 14-3 lead when Tiant Wyche scored on a direct snap from five yards out. The Rams’ defense forced a turnover when Ty Glenn and Andrew Ruff collapsed the pocket, leading to another scoring opportunity.

Irizarry found Omari Stewart to set up Wyche who added his second rushing score to give Albany State a 21-3 advantage after the first quarter.

Newberry responded in the second quarter when Will Young scored on an eight-yard outside zone read, cutting the lead to 21-10. The momentum shifted dramatically just before halftime when Devrin Williams blocked an Albany State field goal attempt and returned it 67 yards, making it 24-21 at the break.

Second half surge falls short

Newberry took control in the second half as Quez Spells broke free for a 34-yard touchdown run, his second of the game, extending the Wolves’ lead to 10 points.

Albany State made it a one-score game late, trailing by seven with under a minute remaining. Irizarry connected with Devon Dorsey and converted a crucial fourth-and-three with his legs to keep the drive alive.

On the final play, Irizarry targeted Jamill Williams, but the redshirt junior could not secure the catch as the ball hit the ground.

Injury scare overshadows game

The contest was marked by a scary moment when Albany State defensive player Ty Glenn was injured during a touchdown pass. Coach said Glenn was moving his extremities and talking after the injury.

“To see him laying there, my heart sort of stopped, to be honest with you,” the coach said. “But thankfully, prayerfully, you know, he’s fine. He was moving his extremities, he was talking to us.”

Irizarry finished with 235 passing yards in his first start. Albany State was penalized 13 times for 140 yards in the loss.

“Kudos to those guys, man. They have done a tremendous job just buying into what it is,” the coach said. “This team, as I’ve said on a number of occasions, they never wanted to let each other down.”

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