ALBANY, Ga. – On a wet and muddy field, the Albany State Golden Rams got all the offense they needed on one play, and beat the Benedict Tigers 7-2 in a SIAC football matchup on Saturday evening.

Albany State got an 80-yard touchdown run in the first quarter from McKinley Habersham, and that was enough to give the Golden Rams the victory. Albany State improves to 5-2 overall and 4-0 in the SIAC. Benedict falls to 0-6 on the season and 0-3 in the SIAC.

"It's a disappointing loss," said Benedict head coach Mike White. "I thought the guys played hard. I thought both defenses played well. They just ran the ball, which is what they do well. We'll go back to the drawing board and see what we can do next week."

The game was played on a sloppy field as heavy rains from Tropical Storm Nestor pelted southern Georgia with heavy rains. The game was originally scheduled to start at 2 p.m., but was changed to a 5 p.m. start on Friday afternoon. Lightning delayed that scheduled start for another hour, with the game finally kicking off at 6 p.m.

The muddy field limited both teams offensively. Albany State finished with 207 yards of offense, with 196 yards on the ground. The majority of those yards came from Habersham, who finished with 148 yards on 27 carries and the game's only touchdown on that long run. Benedict finished with 109 yards of total offense, with 106 yards rushing. Raheem Jennings led the way with 47 yards on 21 carries.

With the rain and muddy conditions, neither team went to the air. Albany State attempted seven passes, completing two for seven yards. Benedict completed one of six pass attempts for three yards.

"It was a real sloppy field, and both teams just battled and tried to make the best of it," White said. "The big run they made was the difference in the game."

The Tigers recovered an Albany State fumble at midfield in the first quarter, and moved down to the Albany 18-yard line. Rigoberto Tinoco missed on a 35-yard field goal attempt. The Golden Rams took over at the 20-yard line. Habersham was held to no gain on first down, but then slipped through the Benedict defensive line on second down and raced down the right sideline for a score with 3:07 left in the quarter.

Jared Eubanks knocked a 40-yard punt that was downed at the Albany State 1-yard line early in the second quarter. Habersham was held to no gain on first down, then ASU quarterback Dionte Bonneau was tackled in the end zone on second down after nearly fumbling the snap to give the Tiger defense a safety and make the score 7-2 with 13:35 left in the first half.

Twelve of the next 15 series ended with punts. The Golden Rams reached Benedict's 22-yard line in the third quarter, but went for it on fourth-and-three and came up short. Benedict went for it on fourth-and-three on their final drive of the game, but fumbled the ball.

Collins Tensley led the defensive charge with eight tackles, including three tackles for loss. Joshua Siaosi also had eight tackles and three tackles for loss.

Benedict returns to action next Saturday with a road trip to Atlanta to take on Morehouse College.