WAYCROSS, Ga.- Albany State defeated Savannah State 28-14 in the inaugural Rumble in the Swamp Classic played at Memorial Stadium.

The Rams, ranked 16th in the latest Division II poll, led 21-0 at the half but Savannah State outscored ASU 14-7 in the second half.

Sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Valdosta and Southeast Georgia, the contest drew 9,273 fans.

The Tigers had their best offensive showing of the season with 302 yards and two touchdowns.

A.J.DeFilippis passed for 153 yards and a touchdown for SSU but red-shirt freshman Antonio Bostic came off the bench to pass for 71 yards and run for 61.

SSU drove to the Rams 27 on their first possession but were stopped on a fourth and one.

ASU took over but Darren Hunter intercepted a Stan Jennings pass at the Savannah State 47 and returned it 16 yards to the SSU 30.

Albany State scored on their second possession of the game when LiRonnie Davis scored on a 37 yard run to cap a 6 play, 68 yard drive with 2:08 left left in the first quarter. Brandon Hamilton's extra point made it 7-0.

The Rams went ahead 14-0 with 7:37 left in the second quarter as Jennings tossed a 6 yard scoring pass to Chris Oliver.

With 56 seconds left in the half Robert Welton scored on a one yard run to give the Rams a 21-0 halftime edge.

Albany State had the ball to open the second half. Welton ran for a 24 yard gain to the SSU 26 but the Tigers' Michael Kuku stripped the ball and SSU took over at their own 28.

Unable to move the ball, SSU had to punt. The Rams took over and marched 92 yards in 8 plays as Kareem Hess scored on a 35 yard run for a commanding 28-0 lead with 4:53 remaining in the third quarter.

After another fumble by Welton, the Tigers took over possession on ASU 45.

DeFilippis completed a 39 yard pass to Simon Heyward and later threw a 6 yard touchdown pass to Dylan Cook for the Tigers first score. Derek Williams converted the extra point, his 38th straight,and SSU trailed 28-7 with 1:29 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Rams drove to the SSU six but were unable to score on a fourth and goal from the two yard line.

Bostic entered the game and engineered a 11 play, 99 yard drive that ended with Sheldon Barnes, who started at tailback for an injured Justin Babb, running for a five yard touchdown with 5:41 left in the game to make the score 28-14.

The Tigers drove to the Albany State 10 on their next drive but could not covert a fourth and six.

ASU took over and ran out the clock to improve to 4-0.

Heyward had a career day with 10 receptions for 104 yards for SSU (0-4). Chris Asbury and J. Vince Cochran had 11 tackles each while Hunter was in on 10 stops to go with one interception.

Davis led the Rams with 90 rushing yards and a touchdown while Jennings threw for 174 and touchdown. Octavius Staton caught two balls for 50 yards while Ernest Seay had 10 tackles.