FAIRFIELD, Ala.- Savannah State University got points from all three phases of their team as the Tigers defeated Miles College 45-19 on Saturday afternoon at Albert Sloan Stadium in the Prince Hall Americanism Football Classic.

The SSU offense scored four touchdowns, the defense scored one touchdown and special teams contributed one touchdown, six points after touchdowns and a field goal.

As a team, the Tigers offense produced 309 yards while the defense, who entered the game ranked third in NCAA Division II in rush defense and eighth in total defense, limited Miles to 59 yards on the ground and 276 total offensive yards.

Getting his first start of the season, Iowa Western Community College transfer quarterback Fabian Walker engineered Savannah State to five possession where they came away with points. The son of Fabian Walker, Sr. who played quarterback at Florida State and Valdosta State, where he won a NCAA Division II national championship, the younger Walker ended the contest by completing 17 of 27 passes for 204 yards and three touchdowns.

Miles (0-4, 0-2) scored a touchdown on their second possession of the game with 5:51 left in the first quarter.

While SSU had trouble moving the ball on their first two drives, the Tiger offense woke up in the second quarter, scoring 24 points.

On their third possession, the Tigers drove from their own 33 to the Miles three yard line but the drive bogged down when Walker was sacked for a 15-yard loss. That set up a 35-yard field  goal by Jimmy Tran with 13:28 remaining in the second quarter to slice the Golden Bears lead to 7-3.

Key plays on the SSU scoring drive were passes by Walker to Jadon Adams (12 yards) and Arik Gilbert (17 yards), an 11-yard run by Joseph Hampton and a six yard reception by Braylon Fowler that was aided by a 10-yard roughing the passer call that gave the Tigers a first down at the Miles nine.

Their next drive took just three plays as Walker, who had a 13-yard run during the possession, completed a short pass in the middle of the field to Cinsere Clark  and  he raced 45 yards for a touchdown with 10:05 on the clock for a 10-7 advantage.

Five minutes later, Miles answered with a field goal to knot the score at 10 with 5:04 left in the first half.

Following a punt by the Tigers, Miles took over on their own 17. Quarterback Brinley Vandiver completed a pass to Marquez Mobley but SSU linebacker Darrian Bell forced Mobley to fumble and it was recovered by Tavare Brewton at the Golden Bears 27.

On the next Savannah State play, Walker threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Gilbert to put the Tigers in front 17-10 with 3:15 remaining in the second quarter.

The Golden Bears tied the game at 17 on their next possession with 2:10 showing on the clock but just before halftime, Savannah State responded with a 9-play, 76-yard drive that ended when Clark caught a 16-yard scoring pass from Walker for a 24-17 advantage.

Walker was sacked for a ten yard loss on the first play of the scoring drive but a Miles defender grabbed Walker's facemask which resulted in a 15-yard penalty and a first down at the SSU 39. Other key plays on the drive include a 14-yard reception by Jamal Hill and a 13-yard catch by Hampton.

The Tigers went into intermission leading 24-17.

Miles was forced to punt on their opening possession of the third quarter but it was blocked by Emari Napper and recovered by Kevin Stokes, Jr. in the end zone for a touchdown and a 31-17 cushion with 11:08 showing on the clock.

Late in the third quarter, Miles' Roderick Smith had a 49-yard punt that pinned the Tigers at their one yard line. David Gardner, Jr. was stopped for a one-yard loss in the end zone for a safety which gave the Golden Bears two points and made the score 31-19.

The Miles offense had three possessions in the fourth quarter and two of those were lost by fumbles.

SSU turned those miscues into points as Trevor Strowbridge recovered a fumble, that was forced by Brewton, at the Miles 13 and returned it for a touchdown with 7:39 left in the game. Lavarian Logan, who transferred from Savannah State to Miles, fumbled a ball that was forced by Kirk Smith and recovered by Bell at the Golden Bears 41. The result was a eight yard touchdown run by Gardner with 18 seconds left in the game.

On the last scoring drive, Gardner carried the ball five times for 21 yards.

The Tigers finished the game with 105 yards on the ground and 204 via air.

Hampton anchored ground attack with 11 carries for 51 yards. He also caught two passes for eight yards and had a pair of kick returns for 36 yards.

Clark hauled in four catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns while Gilbert added six for 73 yards and a score from his tight end position.

Lucas Edenfield punted seven times for an average of 41 yards. He had a long of 47 yards and four of his punts pinned Miles inside the 20.

Bell and Xavier Esquillen both had six tackles for the defense. Bell also forced and recovered a fumble while Esquillen had 3.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Brewton added five tackles, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

The victory give Savannah State a 2-1 overall record and a 1-1 record in the SIAC. The win also increases the Tigers lead in the series with Miles to 14-4.

SSU will return home on September 27 to host Kentucky State (2-2, 2-1 SIAC) at Theodore A. Wright Stadium at 6 p.m.

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